Or better titled, The Influence of Song of Solomon in Community, but I will keep the theme for the sake of consistency and reference. This is the third note in my love series right now. And, I predict that this may step on a few toes. That being said, the toes that this note will step on do not use Facebook or blog all that much, so I think I am safe.
Evangelical, Conservative, Protestant Christians believe that all scripture is God-breathed. So, we (I chose to align with this group because the alternative offered is not helpful) say that we trust and believe in the Bible as the Word of God for all people. In that light, many sermons in these churches will likely get a response from the worshipers that the preacher "just preaches the Bible." As ironic, misguided, and arrogant as that last statement is, it is generally true that the qualifier for a good preacher in this group is a person who brings the Word to life. He takes stories, parables, sermons, and revelations, and he brings these works into a new light for today.
As a ECPC, I can say that I have never heard a sermon on Song of Solomon. But you may ask, why is that important? I believe it is a hint at something much deeper. But, before move to us, let us look back.
The Hebrew Scriptures, the first 39 books of the Bible, have many different genres. Law, story, history, name lists, poetry, and apocalyptic literature. All of these have specific methods to convey information. (In other words, if you took Psalms as a Law book, you would have to literally dash babies against rocks.) Within this God-breathed work, there are countless stories of God working in human history. Sadly, humans rarely get it right, so there are plenty of failure stories in the Bible, which help me more than the stories of "perfect people." Packed in the middle of stories of death, murder, lies, deceit, and coveting are stories of lust, homosexuality, adultery, and sex. The story of Joseph running away from Potipher's wife is juxtaposed to Judah's sexual adventure with his dead son's wife - Tamar. (Strangely, it is from this union of Judah and Tamar that Jesus will come.) David, the Israelite king and hero, is seduced by Bathsheba. (Coincidentally, Jesus will come from Solomon's line , David and Bathsheba's second son.) Then, there is a whole book called Song of Songs (or Solomon) right after Ecclesiastes. The book is all about sex, and it is at times awkwardly graphic with its descriptions. The sexual advances and pick up lines do not transfer today, but the community of Israel somehow used this book to form their faith.
What is your point, Robert? My point is simply this: we have made sex taboo, and THAT is part of the problem. We laugh at sex. We feel dirty and guilty if we even talk about sex with other people. We feel uncomfortable when our parents tell us about sex (often two years too late.) And, we can only giggle when the STD talk comes. So, how could you ever find a healthy expression of sex if you cannot talk about it? The answer to that question brings us to a sad fact: most people turn to their friends, the culture, or their current significant other instead of the people of God, the Spirit of God, and God's Word. Without a healthy DIALOG about sex and love, there cannot ever be a healthy PRACTICE of sex and love.
The importance of Song of Solomon in the Hebrew Scriptures is that it shows us that God's goal for His people was to talk about sex and love together. The goal was to grow together, to learn together, and to fail together. The people of God must break the taboo that says we cannot talk about sex or love, and we must speak about it in more than just "do not do it before you are married." We must give healthy expressions of love, and we must be comfortable with ourselves and sexuality enough to talk.
There I said it: Silence is part of the problem!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Fundamental Re-Contextualization of Love 2
Or... Why Genesis 1 is a really big deal... I could not figure out which title to go with, so I figured I would offer both. Again, we are exploring a healthy view of both love and sexuality in these notes. Ideally, the simplest expressions that we find to be true should be for all people in all relationship statuses. However, the deepest expressions should be manifested within the highest relationship statuses (i.e. marriage and family.)
Genesis 1: 26 says that God created male and female in God's own image. The Hebrew word for God is Elohim, which hints to the fact that God is plural and yet one in the Hebrew language. Elohim says, "Let us make man in our image." So, Elohim creates man and woman in His own image and in His own likeness. Later on in the book we call Scripture, a poet will say that Elohim "knitted him together in his mother's womb." Also, at the heart of the Israelite's Torah (covenant guidelines) are the 10 Commandments. Three of these commandments deal with man's relationship with Elohim, and the other seven are the basis for man's relationship with man. Therefore, at the heart of Elohim's intent for His people, a relationship between one man, who is made in the likeness of God, and another man, who is also made in the likeness of God, must be in some sense governed by God. (Strangely, God does not mandate marriage, but He assumes it by giving a command for no adultery. Therefore, the pre-Torah community of Israel must have had the practice of marriage in existence already for the "adultery" command to make any difference.) These universal and community-based commands ensure that love exists within God's people.
This makes a difference in our discussion of love and sexuality because all (both genders) of our relationships must first be filtered through the fact that both parties are made in the image and likeness of God. Your wife, your husband, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, and the person whose picture is on the internet is made in the image and likeness of God. Your best friend, your worst enemy, your casual acquaintance, your restaurant waitress, and the guys sitting in front of you in bumper to bumper traffic gabbing endlessly on a cell phone are all made in the image and likeness of God. The relationship you have with that person must therefore be governed by God's intent for that relationship. While the Torah (and any law for that matter) at its worst is manifested in legalism, God's intent for the Torah was to promote healthy expressions of love and life for the whole Israelite community.
This is quite simply why Jesus said that all of the Law and Prophets are manifested by and can be summed in saying, "Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And, love your neighbor as yourself." Why? Loving the Creator means loving all the things that are created and far more so for the things that are created in His image and likeness.
In short, Genesis 1 says that every person, whether in God's people or out, is made in the image and likeness of God, and each of them have unimaginable and extraordinary significance and value.
Genesis 1: 26 says that God created male and female in God's own image. The Hebrew word for God is Elohim, which hints to the fact that God is plural and yet one in the Hebrew language. Elohim says, "Let us make man in our image." So, Elohim creates man and woman in His own image and in His own likeness. Later on in the book we call Scripture, a poet will say that Elohim "knitted him together in his mother's womb." Also, at the heart of the Israelite's Torah (covenant guidelines) are the 10 Commandments. Three of these commandments deal with man's relationship with Elohim, and the other seven are the basis for man's relationship with man. Therefore, at the heart of Elohim's intent for His people, a relationship between one man, who is made in the likeness of God, and another man, who is also made in the likeness of God, must be in some sense governed by God. (Strangely, God does not mandate marriage, but He assumes it by giving a command for no adultery. Therefore, the pre-Torah community of Israel must have had the practice of marriage in existence already for the "adultery" command to make any difference.) These universal and community-based commands ensure that love exists within God's people.
This makes a difference in our discussion of love and sexuality because all (both genders) of our relationships must first be filtered through the fact that both parties are made in the image and likeness of God. Your wife, your husband, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, and the person whose picture is on the internet is made in the image and likeness of God. Your best friend, your worst enemy, your casual acquaintance, your restaurant waitress, and the guys sitting in front of you in bumper to bumper traffic gabbing endlessly on a cell phone are all made in the image and likeness of God. The relationship you have with that person must therefore be governed by God's intent for that relationship. While the Torah (and any law for that matter) at its worst is manifested in legalism, God's intent for the Torah was to promote healthy expressions of love and life for the whole Israelite community.
This is quite simply why Jesus said that all of the Law and Prophets are manifested by and can be summed in saying, "Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And, love your neighbor as yourself." Why? Loving the Creator means loving all the things that are created and far more so for the things that are created in His image and likeness.
In short, Genesis 1 says that every person, whether in God's people or out, is made in the image and likeness of God, and each of them have unimaginable and extraordinary significance and value.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The Fundamental Re-Contextualization of Love 1
I am discontent with the manner in which love, sex, and relationship talks have been presented to teenagers for quite some time. I want to attempt to correct some flaws, mistakes, and abuses with my teaching on this subject. And, I want to offer hope, redemption, and a better way.
On the one hand, students have the typical response to anything "borderline" within the Christian understanding: Run as far away from it as possible! So, you have groups like "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" who have a hybrid "wait until you're older/group date/arranged marriage" model. While I have occasionally seen this model work, I have also seen it cause 1) sexual issues within marriage or relationships and 2) unresolved sexual and relationship anxiety within teenagers (and we all know that there is enough of that without sex getting involved.) This model, much like prohibition, has ironically caused many students to violently rebel against it. The students experience some joys within the sphere of relationships by "rebelling" (because relationships are not inherently wrong), and they do not immediately feel guilty or condemned. On the contrary, they feel liberated. Unfortunately, this is where the story normally takes a turn for the worse. Because there is no framework for healthy sexual expression or relationship management, the students venture into the wilderness without guidance or help (and often the opposite reactions of condemnation and guilt trips result.) With no presentation of expressing love other than history, media, and culture, the students will often learn to "make love" just like in the movies. In short, by forcing students to abstain from something that is good but can become twisted, this model quickly becomes an unneeded enslavement that normally results in an unguided, undisciplined, and unsupported exodus.
On the other hand, students are daily inundated by a sex-saturated culture that seems to portray that the only true way to express love to someone is sex (thus the term, make love.) Movies, music, and television shows continually show the grim reality that culture has no healthy manner to express love to anyone other than sex. Homosexuality is glorified mostly because there is no healthy, non-taboo way to functionally show love to someone of the same gender. And, if culture's primary expression of love is sex, the obvious reality is that love is shown to the same gender. Therefore, culture's highest expression of same-gender love is homosexuality. My question is merely: why are we surprised? There are few healthy alternatives to culture's predominated theory on love and sex. The saddest expressions and problems with culture's alternative to love and sex is the fact that often 1) people become objects that serve a physical purpose, 2) no presentation of healthy sexuality is offered, and 3) the "liberation" is often a gateway to a new, but tragically different, enslavement. Quite simply, culture offers freedom to explore relationships. In short, culture's model offers liberation but no guidance or boundaries.
As you can see, both models leave students in some sort of new land with no guidance, no boundaries, and no support system. Both models are obviously too far on the extremes to either do any functional good. Both models ultimately lead students to a land of slavery instead of being set free. Both models do more harm than good.
As we progress in talking about a new model, think through the implications, the expressions, and the manifestations of any new model set forth. In the end, we need to not be shaped by culture or a reaction to culture. In the end, we must be shaped by the Spirit that dwells in us and Scripture.
On the one hand, students have the typical response to anything "borderline" within the Christian understanding: Run as far away from it as possible! So, you have groups like "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" who have a hybrid "wait until you're older/group date/arranged marriage" model. While I have occasionally seen this model work, I have also seen it cause 1) sexual issues within marriage or relationships and 2) unresolved sexual and relationship anxiety within teenagers (and we all know that there is enough of that without sex getting involved.) This model, much like prohibition, has ironically caused many students to violently rebel against it. The students experience some joys within the sphere of relationships by "rebelling" (because relationships are not inherently wrong), and they do not immediately feel guilty or condemned. On the contrary, they feel liberated. Unfortunately, this is where the story normally takes a turn for the worse. Because there is no framework for healthy sexual expression or relationship management, the students venture into the wilderness without guidance or help (and often the opposite reactions of condemnation and guilt trips result.) With no presentation of expressing love other than history, media, and culture, the students will often learn to "make love" just like in the movies. In short, by forcing students to abstain from something that is good but can become twisted, this model quickly becomes an unneeded enslavement that normally results in an unguided, undisciplined, and unsupported exodus.
On the other hand, students are daily inundated by a sex-saturated culture that seems to portray that the only true way to express love to someone is sex (thus the term, make love.) Movies, music, and television shows continually show the grim reality that culture has no healthy manner to express love to anyone other than sex. Homosexuality is glorified mostly because there is no healthy, non-taboo way to functionally show love to someone of the same gender. And, if culture's primary expression of love is sex, the obvious reality is that love is shown to the same gender. Therefore, culture's highest expression of same-gender love is homosexuality. My question is merely: why are we surprised? There are few healthy alternatives to culture's predominated theory on love and sex. The saddest expressions and problems with culture's alternative to love and sex is the fact that often 1) people become objects that serve a physical purpose, 2) no presentation of healthy sexuality is offered, and 3) the "liberation" is often a gateway to a new, but tragically different, enslavement. Quite simply, culture offers freedom to explore relationships. In short, culture's model offers liberation but no guidance or boundaries.
As you can see, both models leave students in some sort of new land with no guidance, no boundaries, and no support system. Both models are obviously too far on the extremes to either do any functional good. Both models ultimately lead students to a land of slavery instead of being set free. Both models do more harm than good.
As we progress in talking about a new model, think through the implications, the expressions, and the manifestations of any new model set forth. In the end, we need to not be shaped by culture or a reaction to culture. In the end, we must be shaped by the Spirit that dwells in us and Scripture.
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