Number 7
Continuing my small group's semi-glacial pace through the decalogue, here are my notes from Sunday's discussion on the seventh commandment. Other notes can be found in the archives.
One issue in which the Church sharply sticks out in the world today is that of sexuality. Against a culture that views sexuality as entirely one?s own business, ruled only by the commandments to enjoy oneself and not cause too much immediate hurt to another, the Church has the gall to say that things such as pre-marital sex, adultery, divorce, pornography, abortion, homosexuality, and pornography are, in fact, wrong. In a society that places a high premium on following one?s own heart and choosing one?s own path, the Church has the arrogance to state that even the most intimate activities one may partake in are still accountable to a transcendent rule and, more importantly, to a holy God.
To complicate matters, the Church does a poor job at following the pronouncements that it makes for others ? and it does that poor job publicly. Stories of famous Christian leaders caught in adultery, or priests raping young boys abound. Nationwide, the divorce statistic for ?born again? Christians is still, after a decade, identical to that of non-Christians. Young Christian females consistently dress in the same hyper-sexualized manner as their peers. And that is to not even begin to delve into the epidemic of porn.
The standard, though, is not the Church. God himself through his word brings a holy and pure benchmark for sexuality. In the Old Testament, we can see this in the extensive case laws governing sexuality. In the New Testament, Jesus comes to show that adultery can encompass even one?s thought-life. And then there are passages such as Ephesians 5.3ff, where Paul exhorts his readers to not even name or joke about sexual sin. And the reason for this is that the "immoral" and "impure" will not inherit the kingdom of God. Quite stern stuff.
It is easy to think that this rigid inflexibility on God?s part is because he is some sort of cosmic killjoy, intent on removing any possibility of fun or enjoyment from our lives. Certainly that becomes the charge laid against Christians (perhaps, at times, for good reason). Two things are worth remembering to both help us understand why God?s standards for sexuality are the way they are and then how to live that in our own lives.
The first is that from the beginning marriage and thus sexuality were designed for service. God placed Adam and Eve together in the garden, not so that they could find complete happiness and fulfillment for themselves in their relationship, but so that they could serve God. The initial context is of obedience. Eve was brought to Adam so that the two of them could serve God more effectively. The command given to them as a couple was to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it."
Hauerwas and Willimon put it this way:
[M]arriage is justified for the upbuilding of the community, not for the mutual pleasure of the couple. We do believe that marriage can be pleasurable, joyful, but the pleasure and joy begin not in private concerns but in public commitments. The pleasure of sex is enhanced by doing it in public, that is, in enjoying sexuality within the contract of our wider Christian ministry, our openness to new life and to children. Thus we discover the joy of the primal act of being "fruitful," of participating in the very creativity of God as God intended.
The point of all this is that God did not create sexuality solely for individual gratification. That does happen, but the ultimate end is the glory of God. The act of adultery is ultimately an act of willful selfishness, the pursuit of one?s own pleasure and the disregard of the well-being of all those who will be affected.
The second point to remember is that marriage and sexuality is meant to point to God?s relationship with his people. When God?s prophets were confronting OT Israel for idolatry and apostasy, the language they used was that of adultery. Some times the language was even graphically sexual. In the NT, Paul switches seamlessly between discussions of husband-wife relations and the ?mystery? of Christ?s love for his church, even going so far to say that the initial description of marriage in Genesis is ultimately about Christ and the Church (Eph. 5.32). Lastly, as the Bible begins with the creation of the world and the first marriage, it ends with the description of the ending of this world and the ultimate marriage between the Lamb and his bride.
Our initial response is to think that the Bible is speaking symbolically concerning Christ and his church, that the writers of the Bible are using marital similes and metaphors to try to explain a spiritual truth. However, a better way to think of it is that marriage is the metaphor and Christ?s relationship with his people is the reality. Marriage itself is the image or symbol of the deeper reality of Christ?s love for his people.
These are two of the reasons, I think, why God demands such purity from his people. Sexuality is not just a random means for pleasure, but is part of, first, mankind?s responsibility to God and, second, a sign of the deeper intimacy between Christ and his people.
This does not, however, mean that this commandment is easy, as five minutes spent listening to a group of Christian men complain about lust will demonstrate. But the commandment is there and it is comprehensive. The larger catechism puts it this way:
WLC 138 What are the duties required in the seventh commandment?
A. The duties required in the seventh commandment are, chastity in body, mind, affections, words, and behaviour; and the preservation of it in ourselves and others; watchfulness over the eyes and all the senses; temperance, keeping of chaste company, modesty in apparel; marriage by those that have not the gift of continency; conjugal love, and cohabitation; diligent labour in our callings; shunning all occasions of uncleanness, and resisting temptations thereunto.
WLC 139 What are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment?
A. The sins forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required, are adultery, fornication, rape, incest, sodomy, and all unnatural lusts; all unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affections; all corrupt or filthy communications, or listening thereunto; wanton looks, impudent or light behaviour, immodest apparel; prohibiting of lawful, and dispensing with unlawful marriages; allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, and resorting to them; entangling vows of single life, undue delay of marriage; having more wives or husbands than one at the same time; unjust divorce, or desertion; idleness, gluttony, drunkenness, unchaste company, lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays; and all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness, either in ourselves or others.
God has given us a high standard and it is vital for us to strive, through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit to live according to that standard.
Lastly, we must remember passages such as 1 Cor 6.9-11. Passages such as that teach us that there is never any room for pride within our hearts for our (perceived) sexual faithfulness. All of us have fallen and continue to fall in this area.
Yet, note the verbs in verse 11: we "were washed", "were sanctified", "were justified." All of these are passive. We are having this done to us, not by us. And that is ultimately the message we proclaim to both ourselves and to the world around us: we all have sinned against God?s holiness, but Christ comes by the Spirit to cleanse us, sanctify us, and call us holiness. In Christ comes restoration, forgiveness, and healing.
February 22, 2005 09:51 AM