The Jesus Sessions: Physical Intimacy

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says;

"The monstrosity of [physical intimacy] outside marriage is that those who indulge in it are trying to isolate one kind of union (the sexual) from all the other kinds of union which were intended to go along with it and make up the total union. The Christian attitude does not mean that there is anything wrong about sexual pleasure, any more than about the pleasure of eating. It means that you must not isolate that pleasure and try to get it by itself, any more than you ought to try to get the pleasures of taste without swallowing and digesting, by chewing things and spitting them out again." (pg. 96)

When Jesus speaks of lust in Matthew 5:27-30, we see that Jesus gives practical advice on how to get out of the vicious cycles of adultery through lust, namely by removing the thing that is causing the problem (Jesus spoke figuratively and extremely about gouging out your eye in order to get his point across). I believe there are three major sources of dysfunction in our lives and in our culture regarding physical intimacy, namely, a distorted view of self, a distorted view of others, and a distorted view of God.

If we go all the way back to Genesis, we see that God created man and woman (Ish and Ishah), and they had an appropriate view of themselves (they were naked and felt no shame), an appropriate view of each other (the man said of the woman, "this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh" and the two were to be united in one flesh), and an appropriate view of God (they took their instruction from him and had fellowship with him). However, those views quickly became distorted through sin, and they no longer had an appropriate view of themselves (they were naked and felt shame), each other (they passed blame for sin) and God (they hid from him).

I believe that a major pathway to appropriate physical intimacy is to understand it within the context of the holistic union of a man and a woman, where there is an appropriate view of self, each other, and God. God is to be the center, where we behave towards each other and respond to each other as Christ does to us. God desires for us to live our best life, and experience the best relationships.

There is always forgiveness and healing for those who want it, and we can begin to move in a direction where we view ourselves, each other, and God appropriately, and let that guide our relationships in every area. God bless you all.

It was great to worship with you on Sunday. And...I will see you next week at the Gathering!
-Tim