a fight against sexual purity: Part II

This post has been a long time coming. I've attempted to write it about 2 or 3 times, and I've had to scratch every single one. In fact, I am almost afraid to post these thoughts, because I know they are far from being fully developed and coherent. I am in no way claiming to finally have all the answers. If you are looking for a handbook on sexual purity complete with an altar call and salvation forevermore, then just move along soldier.

This is my best effort at some sort of resolution and perspective. And my ideas are 100% stolen from a sermon by Rev. Rich Lambert and a book called Sex and the Supremacy of Christ compiled by John Piper.

In my one month of half-hearted research I have come to this HUGE realization: I struggle with the concept of sexual purity because I struggle to believe the gospel. I don't really understand what it means when Paul writes, " For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

So what does all of this leaving and cleaving mumbo jumbo really mean? It means that Jesus gives all of Himself to have all of you. Wow. Rev. Lambert makes the bold statement that what you believe about sex is what you believe about the gospel. He goes on to explain that if I am single and I feel like I have to idolize sex and take it for myself, then I don't believe that God is gracious and that He joins Himself to me completely and pours His love upon me.
or, on the other hand, if I am married and I don't want sex, then I do not enjoy Jesus. I do not believe that He could ever delight in me. We so often fall into the trap of believing that Jesus saves us, but He doesn't want us. 


When I whine against living up to a standard of sexual purity, it reveals that I have completely disconnected sex from the gospel. It has become a god. I worship something that was meant to be used in worship. I serve something that was meant to serve me. I become consumed with trying to moralize and break down into law something that was made to free and liberate.

       "The gospel is the Savior loving us in our low meanness, the parts of us that no one wants to see. Jesus trudged through death to sweep His lover into His arms and carry her off. He takes us in our uncleanness to make us clean. Is there any part of Himself that He hides from us when He opens His heart in His word? Is there any part of His love that He holds back from us when He touches our wounds and our brokenness? The gospel in marriage is we give all of self to have all of another."

Rev. Lambert goes on to say, "What you believe about how husbands and wives should give to each other is what you believe about how Jesus gives Himself to you."

Therefore, what I believe about sexual purity is what I believe about the gospel. I believe that Jesus loves me, delights in me, and wants all of me. This is the driving force behind sexual purity. This understanding of Christ and His relationship with the Church is what begs for obedience, abstinence, purity, and all those words that my rebellious heart fights against.

there. thats my best effort. 

come disaster, scorn, and pain

i stole a CD from the church office and it has become my new best friend. so here's a plug for the Indelible Grace Hymn Sing CD which features live music recorded in Nashville. If you don't have it, go buy it. or steal it from your church.

anyways, I was driving along minding my own business, listening to hymns that I have heard my whole life, when one verse just hit me like bucket of cold water from the middle of nowhere. it goes like this:

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure,
Come disaster, scorn and pain
In Thy service, pain is pleasure,
With Thy favor, loss is gain
I have called Thee Abba Father,
I have stayed my heart on Thee
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather;
All must work for good to me.

thats sort of a big deal. by singing those words I am saying that I want to trade my earthly treasures for disaster, scorn, and pain. Pain is pleasure, loss is gain. I wish I had the faith to sing that and really mean it. Instead, I get a little bit scared to death inside. Is this what Jesus wants? Is that what it looks like to take up my cross and follow Him? Maybe I signed up for the wrong thing here, I didn't know disaster and pain was part of the job description.

lets compare that to these words of wisdom from the motivational speaker Joel Osteen:
"Don’t just accept whatever comes your way in life. You were born to win; you were born for greatness; you were created to be a champion in life."

I'm pretty sure the phrase "champion in life" doesn't exist in the Holy Bible. But this does:
"..we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies."

just an interesting comparison there. the hymn continues like this:


Soul, then know thy full salvation
Rise o’er sin and fear and care
Joy to find in every station,
Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee,
Think what Father’s smiles are thine,
Think that Jesus died to win thee,
Child of heaven, canst thou repine?

I am a child of the King. The Spirit is inside me. The Father smiles at me. Jesus died to win me. Heaven is mine.
just a few thoughts.

"A faith without some doubts is like a human body without antibodies in it.  People who blithely go through life too busy or indifferent to ask hard questions about why they believe as they do will find themselves defenseless against either the experience of tragedy or the probing questions of a smart skeptic." Tim Keller, The Reason for God

single mom

according to my sis, this is my new eharmony profile:

 

single mom of 1, looking for a soulmate and a good time.  smokes, drinks, and loves country music. 

theres nothing like an ego boost from your little sister who thinks you are beyond hope at the ripe old age of twenty.