First, however, the recent Atlanta shooting brought the issue of purity culture out in the news, and I briefly discussed that fact in my prior post. However, a reader contacted me with more information about the gunman and his concern that I left a wrong impression. I appreciated his insight and inserted this note in that last post:

Others have used this opportunity to discuss purity teaching in the church, but I don’t know the shooter’s motives or what he was taught. Please do not take anything in this post as knowledge of the shooter’s history or reasoning.

Moving on to the issue at hand!

What is purity culture?

Let’s quickly revisit that Purity Culture as a concept largely began with the True Love Waits curriculum launched by Lifeway in 1993. That turned into a movement with pledge cards, purity rings, conferences, books, and more—all emphasizing the importance of sexual abstinence before marriage.

Some of the messages were biblical, but too many were extrabiblical and/or dismissive of God’s love, grace, and forgiveness. Other forms of godly purity were not given sufficient coverage while this one aspect was elevated and at times treated as determinative of one’s standing in the kingdom.

Yes, God is concerned about our sexuality, but as an outgrowth of our hearts and souls.

Yes, God is concerned about our sexuality, but as an outgrowth of our hearts and souls. #Christiansex #purityculture #marriage
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Let’s do some myth-busting.

Again, I want to say that not all of the messages were bad. Some attacks on Purity Culture want to throw out the baby with the bathwater. But y’all are too smart for that. ~wink~

We can keep the good and filter out the bad and not-quite-right. Let’s take on a few prominent myths.

Courtship, not dating.

The Bible does say, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14), and God repeatedly tells His people to choose a mate from among their own—not referring to race, ethnicity, or nationality, but to their faith. So yes, we shouldn’t choose a marriage partner who doesn’t share our devotion to Christ.

(To those already in that situation, please understand there’s no condemnation for that! See 1 Corinthians 7:13-14.)

But is going out on a date being “yoked”? And is courtship—”the time when people have a romantic relationship with the intention of getting married“—from the beginning the best or only way?

Actually, the Bible shows a number of ways people ended up with their mate. Some were matched by their parents, some found and pursued their love interest, some were rewarded a wife for heroic deeds (sigh…it was the culture then), some fulfilled a family duty, some made a great first impression, and so on.

Moreover, I know Christians who dated, Christians who courted, one couple who dated everyone else in their social circle before they finally courted, Christians who met in person, Christians who met online, and Christians who [fill in the blank] and ended up with solid, godly marriages.

Conclusions

• If possible, God wants us married to (“yoked” with) a fellow believer.
• Being in a relationship that could lead to marriage with someone who isn’t a believer is unwise.
• Though dating could lead to a relationship, a date isn’t the equivalent of a relationship.
• God accepts a variety of paths from meet to marry—including courtship, but not only courtship.
• God wants to bless your marriage however you got there.

Waiting ensures good sex in marriage.

Yes, God’s initial and ideal design is a single sexual partner (one man, one woman), and physical intimacy after a God-blessed, witnessed commitment (husband and wife).

Benefits of waiting include the security of that commitment underlying a very vulnerable experience, the joy of discovering and exploring sexual pleasure and connection together, no pop-up-window comparisons in your mind to prior lovers or worry that you’re being compared, a high unlikelihood of sexually transmitted infections, and the structure of a family for children if/when conception occurs.

Hey, I wish I’d waited. I wish my husband had been my only lover. I wish I hadn’t entered marriage with that particular baggage or added baggage for my previous lovers to take into their marriage. But EVERYONE enters marriage with baggage, whether it’s inaccurate theology, past experiences, erroneous expectations, etc.

And if you didn’t have any of those challenges, give it time. Somewhere in your marriage, something will crop up to challenge your sexual intimacy.

We need to stop guaranteeing something God didn’t guarantee: an easy life. Sure, Christ promised His disciples such beautiful things as salvation, peace, joy, wisdom, the Holy Spirit, and eternal life. But He also said that the world will hate His disciples, we will be persecuted, and we have to carry our cross.

Conclusions

• God’s design is for sex to happen in the covenant relationship of marriage.
• Waiting until marriage comes with certain benefits to oneself and for the marriage.
• Both those who waited and those who didn’t will have problems to resolve.
• I beg your pardon, God didn’t promise you a rose garden* here on earth. We get glimpses of Eden, but not Eden itself, yet.
• Good sexual intimacy is God’s desire for every married couple, whatever their background. (It’s worth the effort.)

Modest is hottest.

That slogan was on t-shirts during the height of Purity Culture. You would have had to pay young adult me a whole lot of money to wear one. (I was a little busy back then pushing the boundaries of my Christian university’s overly strict dress code. ~grin~)

But that isn’t just a slogan. Rather, there’s an entire subgenre of books and resources all about how a women should dress modestly so that men won’t be tempted to lust. Yes, sometimes it went the other way—with men encouraged to be modest—but not often. Rather, the primary modesty message fell on girls, while the don’t-lust message fell on boys.

What’s true about this is that we should consider how our appearance does or does not reflect Christian values. For instance, the one passage where modest attire is addressed is this one:

Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.

1 Timothy 2:9-10

But notice that’s not about how much skin is showing, but rather not displaying one’s wealth. Moreover, let’s discuss the Greek word translated as modesty here. It’s aidos, and it means “a sense of shame or honour, modesty, bashfulness, reverence, regard for others, respect.” It doesn’t mean “cover yourself up, girlfriend!”

Sure, you can make a case that honor, regard for others, and respect means dressing in a way that doesn’t tempt or distract, but really this is about dressing in a way that doesn’t offend or detract. In fact, I think this translation captures the meaning a bit better:

And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.

1 Timothy 2:9-10 (NLT)

Now if you turn to the passages about lust, not one of them blames the target of lust. Not. One. (I searched.) Indeed, when Job makes his covenant, he holds himself responsible for his choice.

I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.

Job 31:1

In Proverbs, the father tells his son:

Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.

Proverbs 6:25

And Jesus warns:

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew 5:28

And while I’m at it, none of those passages tell you to “bounce your eyes.” I fully respect the intention here, but constantly avoiding women doesn’t deal with the underlying issue and conveys to women that they are the issue.

I honestly used to believe “bounce your eyes” was a good idea, but when I started to look at the Word of God for what it said, the closest you can come are the next two verses: “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29-30).

It would seem that looking away is better, or at least less painful, than gouging out your eye. But unless you’re at the level of addiction or compulsion—where avoidance is your only way of gaining control—then the approach should be not to look away but to look deeper. That’s what Jesus did (see On “Pigs,” Good Men, and the Difference).

Christ encountered women likely dressed in ways conveyed immodesty (see Luke 7:36-50, John 4:1-26, and John 8:2-11), yet treated them with kindness and respect.

Conclusions

• Modesty is about acting in ways that do not offend or detract from the good works we do as Christians.
• Dressing appropriately—whatever that looks like in your culture—can be part of modesty, but a mature Christian chooses that out of reverence for Christ, not demands by others or the fear of being ogled.
• (By the way, there are passages that make the case for not being naked or close to naked in public—both men and women—but the modesty verses aren’t it.)
• Scripture never blames the target of lust for the sin of lust. It’s the person lusting who’s responsible.
• Most people who struggle with lust don’t need to look away but to look deeper—that is, to see others as a whole person and a child of God rather than the culmination of attractive body parts.

And a quick word about object lessons.

Long before I had a sex blog, I worked in children’s ministry. I’ve done a lot of object lessons! Let me tell you, there’s nothing quite like explaining the resurrection of Christ with a matchstick that you blow out and then watch spark back to life. The kids literally oohed and aahed.

So I understand the power of a great object lesson. But I’m perplexed by some I’ve heard being used to explain the importance of sexual integrity to youth. For example:

• Taking the petals off a flower one by one to show how each sexual experience removes something from you that can never be put back.
• Sticking two pieces of duct tape together and claiming that’s how it is with your first sexual partner, no matter what—you cannot be pulled apart without ripping.
• Asking people to take a bite of or spit on food and then offering it to a volunteer who refuses, to show that no one wants something or someone used by others.

Good heavens! First off, that’s all focused on our behavior more than the heart and faith from which actions flow. Second, every one of those situations is well within God’s power to fix. Seriously, if God can bring dead plants back to life (Ezekiel 17:24), if He can pull the sea apart into two pieces (Exodus 14:21-22), and He can create fresh food for thousands from scraps (Matthew 14:19-21), don’t you think He can handle torn flowers, duct tape stickiness, and spoiled food? And yes, our mess-ups in the sexual arena too.

For too long, I didn’t believe He would. Maybe I thought God could, but I didn’t think He would. Now I think: Balderdash! I think too much of myself and too little of God if I cannot accept His forgiveness for the past, believe in His ability to heal, and embrace the blessings He wants to bestow on my marriage.

I really hope these damaged-goods lessons are not still happening. It’s fine to let singles know that sexual integrity matters, but God matters far more. If I’d understood God’s true love for me, maybe I would have waited. It certainly would have been easier.

What is sexual purity?

Sexual purity is about following God’s design for sex, which is holy and healthy sexuality within the covenant of marriage. Yes, that includes waiting until marriage, and we should teach and practice that, because it’s always better not to have sinned than to have sinned!

But you’re not irrevocably damaged or impure if you messed up. Christ purifies us!

[Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

Titus 2:14

And you’re not guaranteed ease and first-in-line through the pearly gates if you kept your V-card until your wedding night. We live in a fallen world that comes with trouble.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

The question teens and singles tend to ask is “How far is too far”? I long ago concluded that was the wrong question. The right question is “How can I honor God with my body and my life?”

The question teens and singles tend to ask is "How far is too far"? I long ago concluded that was the wrong question. The right question is "How can I honor God with my body and my life?" #Christiansex #purityculture
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Within marriage, it’s honoring to God to pursue mutually satisfying physical intimacy with your spouse. Whatever you were taught, whatever your history, that should be your present and it can be your future.

The post Where Purity Culture Got It Wrong, Let’s Get It Right appeared first on Hot, Holy & Humorous.

One commenter added: “Why and how did it become acceptable to have sex scenes in movies anyway? Why do people want to watch that? Focus, Hollywood. Less is more.”

I agree with those who say there is a danger in filling our minds with unrealistic stories about sexual activity — whether it comes from pornography, Hollywood, erotic books, or over-the-top romance novels. When we allow erroneous messages about sex into our eyes, our minds, and our hearts, we can cheapen the intimate act God gave married couples and adopt twisted expectations of the sexual intimacy in our marriage.

• Why won’t my wife do what that woman on the screen will do? Why isn’t she as eager and wild?
• Why doesn’t my husband sweep me on my feet like that and pleasure me for hours?
• Why does our sex sometimes feel awkward, when it looks so beautiful in the movies?

Do you pay attention to where you’re getting your messages about sexuality? Who is telling you the stories about romance, love, passion, and sex? What are they telling you, and is it helpful for the sexual intimacy in your marriage?

From a practical perspective, I don’t think you can entirely avoid stories that don’t wholly support God’s view of sexual intimacy. At least not without locking yourself away somewhere. Turn on the TV or watch a movie or open a magazine, and there will be tales of couples engaged in premarital sex, comedies poking fun at sexless marriages, messages hinting that kinkier is better, etc. As Christians in the world, we need to sharpen our filters and be able to move past that, identifying untruths where they occur.

But honestly, I cannot remember the last time I saw an R-rated movie, because I grew so weary of being cussed at and shown naked people doing it. Sometimes we don’t need a filter so much as a fortress — just shoving out those stories of sexual intimacy that could do real damage to our minds, hearts, and marriages.

Consider these scriptures:

“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.” Job 31:1

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23

“But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:28

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

“I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it.” Psalm 101:3

Of course, the Bible itself includes stories of sexual sin — but they are provided as warnings, not entertainment. Like the fables or original fairy tales provided important warnings about not talking to strangers (Red Riding Hood) or the importance of working hard (Ant and Grasshopper). There’s a very different tone in stories like Tamar (this one or this one) or David and Bathsheba and the love between Elkanah and Hannah or between the Lover and Beloved. It’s clear what sexual stories would receive God’s approval and which would get His rebuke or condemnation.

Maybe it’s time to ask yourself some questions. What are you reading? What are you watching? What are you listening to? What stories about sexual intimacy are you soaking up and giving credence? Are they in line with God’s message? Do you need to make different choices?

The post Have Stories Damaged Your View of Sex? appeared first on Hot, Holy & Humorous.