The Fundamental Re-Contextualization of Love 3

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!