Sex: God's Gift Or Mankind's Curse?

For those of you who scrambled down here in a tearing hurry because you saw the word ‘sex’ in the title, terribly sorry, but I’ve got nothing titillating to say. This is a rather preachy piece and I’m not apologizing for any lusty sentiments I may be treading underfoot because I believe that (1) my opinions are based on the Word of God (2) the Word of God is always right and (3) this is my blog and I’m darn well gonna say whatever I want to, on it! Don’t fret reader. You can always go back to your own blog and crib about the injustice of it all….

From ages past, sex has been a fascinating topic to discuss, debate, opine and generally just roll around the tongue. It was a mysterious act, shrouded in intrigue, taboo and darkness. Granted that open discussions on sex have blossomed in the 21st century, but that I would think is more out of fear – fear of STD, VD and the dreaded HIV. Over the centuries, culture, fashion, lifestyle and popular opinion have tossed their opinions of sexuality around, swinging from one extreme to the other. While upto the 20th century sex was frowned upon as a healthy topic of discussion, the 1960’s saw the era of the flower children and free love became cheaper than a lemon.

What is sex really? A gift from God or a curse on mankind? Diplomatic people would say a little bit of both. I say it depends on how you use it. While some people completely dedicate their entire lives to the exploration and celebration of the same, there are others who shush you and frown at the mere mention of the word. After all wasn’t it this dirty thing that brought AIDS into the world? I beg to disagree here. It is WE dirty things that brought AIDS into the world!

The Word of God at first glance seems to indicate that God primarily meant sex for procreation and not recreation. But then, think about it. If that was true, he might have just had us all laying eggs or something. I mean, there is no doubt that sex is an activity that is pleasing and acceptable to human beings. The human body is engineered in myriad exquisite ways to enhance sexual pleasure and sweep the participants to heights of ecstasy. How could it be then that God didn’t mean man to enjoy it? Of course He did.

But God, being the model for all earthly fathers, also laid down a few rules here. “Play by my rules”, He said “and all will be well with you”. Pretty simple rules really. Here’s my idea of how God would put it:

• "You’ve got one body, one heart, one soul….whaddya need more than one partner for, you greedy pig?"
• "Look human, I can’t make this clearer- same sex intercourse is disgusting…so get that'straight'!" (pun intended)
• "And no, you can’t do it with your family members either…why do you insist on making me puke?"
• "If you use my gift as a tool of violence or power one more time, I’m coming down there and then it won’t be pleasant!"
• "Just what is your problem with waiting till you’re married? Afraid every single member of the opposite sex will be raptured before that?
• "You need your neighbour’s partner like you need a bullet in the head…. what’s wrong with you people?"

I often imagine just how frustrated God must have felt at the way mankind hearkened to the Prince of the World and twisted and perverted what ought to have been a glorious gift to be indulged in with joyous abandon within the confines of holy matrimony, into a base instinct, a dirty thing to be done in the dark and sniggered at in daylight. Love, quickly replaced by lust.

Take pre-marital sex for instance. In today’s world it’s a done thing. If you’re still a virgin, it signals that you’re probably a dork with stunted social skills! The secular world sees sexual promiscuity as freedom…God sees it as sin. Yeah, some people condemn it too…for all the wrong reasons. Unwanted pregnancies, danger of STD, breakdown of sexual and emotional health – all very real undesirables, but there’s a bigger reason to wait. It’s called GOD.

If Christ is truly Lord of your life, then wait. Wait for the one He’s appointed for you. Wait for God to okay when and how you become sexually active. Wait for Him to bless the union and the experience will be positive and uplifting. Without Christ at the centre, sexual experiences can become frightening, perverted, repulsive, painful and even traumatic….all leading to guilt, fear, sickness of mind and body, obsession, psychological damage and more importantly the foundation for a barrier between you and your heavenly Father.

God gave us the amazing gift of sexuality to use wisely and relish, the way it was originally meant to be relished. A pure mind turned to Him, a consciousness submitted completely to His control, a heart that yearns to please Him will all help you say “no” at the right time. Look to Him for understanding and He will not refuse it to you (James 1:5) and be careful reader…tread soft ....do not awaken love before it so desires (Song of Solomon 2:7)....

God has a funny bone too!

An explorer in the deepest Amazon suddenly finds himself surrounded by a blood-thirsty group of natives. Upon surveying the situation, he says quietly to himself "Oh God, I'm screwed!!!" Suddenly, there is a ray of light from heaven and a voice booms out: "No, you are NOT screwed. Pick up that stone at your feet and bash in the head of the chief standing in front of you." So the explorer picks up the stone and proceeds to bash the living heck out of the chief. As he stands above the lifeless body, breathing heavily and surrounded by 100 natives with a look of shock on their faces, God’s voice booms out again: "Okay… NOW you're screwed."

Had a healthy laugh? Good. Its difficult to imagine God giving such instructions, but that sure was funny wasn’t it? In my opinion, humour is one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind. I don’t think he wanted a man who frowned or deadpanned all the time. He animated our features by teaching us to smile and delighted our souls with the sound of laughter. But He also understood that smiles and laughter would be become mechanical activities unless we had a reason for them…I think that’s when he decided to give us His divine gift of a sense of humour!

Humour is certainly divine, there’s no doubt about it. The Word of God itself is filled with subtle humour. It may not have you rolling in the aisles, but look hard and it’ll certainly tickle your funny bone. Take Jonah for instance. Has there ever been a funnier prophet? I mean the way he scrambles in one direction when God beckons to the other is worthy of being classified as slapstick comedy! He finally decides to play along and goes ahead and makes all these dramatic predictions of brimstone and fire raining down in divine judgement on the city of Niniveh. And then those silly people go and repent and our just and fair God forgives them! What an ass Jonah must have felt! And imagine the comical look on his face when his precious creeper wilted, leaving him frying in the hot Mediterranean sun!! Oh man, God’s a funny guy alright!

Clean humour never hurt anybody and can be used as an instrument of adoration and worship when directed well. I mean, who doesn’t like a strong sermon peppered with funny but meaningful anecdotes? Jesus Himself told parables…most of them satirical or even funny pertaining to the standard of humour in those days. Remember the time when the Pharisees tried to trap Him with the taxation controversy? Jesus deftly sides-steps them with a ‘Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God, what belongs to God’. Then there was this other time when He gently explains how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven – “Like a camel passing through the eye of a needle” – a ridiculous picture if you actually imagined it! Sharp-witted guy, Jesus had to be!

John 11.35 is something people dwell on over and over again – ‘Jesus wept’. But consider this. This was a gentle man, who played with children, spent lots of time with friends and common people in pastures, mountainsides and lakesides, made merry with the poor, the sick and the shunned, inviting the displeasure of the rich, the religious and the powerful…..surely, he must have laughed too….sometimes in derision, sometimes in scorn and sometimes, in pure, unbridled mirth. My take is that the Bible didn’t record His laughter because with Jesus, mirth and rejoicing were an everyday occurrence while His tears were highlighted because that’s the only time it ever happened with Him! The best argument of all however that drives home to me that God has a sense of humour for sure, is from life itself – how else do you explain Murphy’s Laws people???

In Philippians, Paul exhorts us to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice!’. Why not through humour then? A well-told joke, sharp and ready wit, a gentle satirical nip can chase the gloom away and rejuvenate us to keep living the kind of joyous Christian existence that our Lord expects from us. So what are you waiting for? Let the miracle of humour be born in you again and may silver peals of laughter ring out the birth tidings!

Come like little children…..

When I was a little girl (and that was some time ago!), I was constantly told that Jesus loved little children, that He honoured their prayers and that it didn’t matter to Him what colour or shape or size they were….with Jesus, all little children were welcome!

I never questioned this…to me, it was a fact of life. Jesus loved little children because little children were special weren’t they? They were cute and endearing and funny and just….special! Everybody loved little children. So what was the big deal about Jesus loving them too? The only tangible benefit I could see in this whole ‘Jesus loves you’ business was that my prayers for a Raggedy-Ann doll at Christmas were much likelier to be answered than a grown-up’s!

At that age, Jesus to me was not an awesome, powerful God….He was my playmate, my brother…..the friend who always hung around with me. I spoke to Him at all odd times of the day and each time I could hear Him reply! His voice I remember was soft and low and sometimes we even laughed together. I took maximum advantage of His attention and would often ask for small favours - like finding a lost textbook the day before a big test or for weather changes depending on whether I had a picnic or a test the next…..and more often than not, He obliged!! Trust me, He did. And I took it all for granted.

As I grew up however, in a strange inexplicable way, this interaction came to a grinding halt. I woke up one day and suddenly realized that I couldn’t hear His voice anymore. It didn’t bother me much at first. I sort of thought He was taking a sabbatical or something…..but slowly, a kind of panic overtook me….a panic that slowly faded into regret when I realized the process was irreversible….a regret I still haven’t overcome today. Somewhere along my journey from childhood to adulthood, I’d lost the ability to converse with the Lord unselfconsciously and with nonchalant ease. Even today, though I have a satisfyingly deep relationship with Him, it is nowhere close to my experience as a child.

In Matthew 19:14, Jesus said “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it”. The NIV study Bible says Jesus was referring to the merits of a child’s nature where natural openness and receptivity at the acceptance of gifts abound. I however like to think differently….

In my view, this one little statement whisks us back to the beginning of time, to the book of Genesis where Adam and Eve frolicked in Eden, unaware of nakedness or shame. These were feelings alien to them until that fatal bite into the taboo fruit from the ‘No-No’ Tree. In effect, Adam and Eve were like children – innocent, unbiased, free of hate, prejudice, fear or anxiety. Their interaction with the Lord was personal and face-to-face …….until Adam fell.

That very moment mankind’s innocence was shattered. Since then, I believe the only time we humans glimpse that primal gift of blissful naiveté and artless, guileless state of mind, is in the genuinely simple nature of children.

In my understanding, Jesus demands that we let go of our prejudices that discern between colour, caste, race, religion and creed and learn to love each other the way children do. Children care not if their friends are poor or ugly or fat or even dirty! They do not shy away from another small grubby hand offered in friendship because the owner of that hand has AIDS. They don’t stop to think that they’ve draped their arms around another small body wearing shabby clothes. They don’t see people in terms of black and white, just a world full of colours merging in harmony. In effect, children reflect primal innocence…they remind God of His first human relationships and I think, that’s why Jesus loves them more.

When Adam fell, his eyes of discernment were opened wide. Today, Jesus demands we close them again and walk in faith in His Light instead…….that we give up our view of the world and revert to the innocence of our childhood……are we up to the challenge?