Let's Talk about Talking about Sex (Ephesians 5:3-14)
The striking thing about this paragraph in Ephesians is that Paul is focused here on our speech and not merely sex. We tend to make this section about sex, because it has the word sex in it. It has been repeatedly proven that when people see a series or cloud of words in which the word sex occurs, they will remember that word even if they forget all the others.
In pointing the fact out, this is not an attempt to say that sex is not important, or that sexual purity is not a universal standard that God expects from every believer… it is. The Bible makes it repeatedly clear that sex is one of the black and white issues for God. He designed it for the exclusive context of marriage.
However, we often overlook a higher standard that Paul is calling for here. Look at some of the phrases here: “must not be named,” “no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking,” “Let no one deceive you with empty words,” “it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.” Paul is warning against the crass attitudes and flippancy with which our culture approaches sex.
Sex is not taboo, or some dark evil thing of which we should be ashamed. It is a normal and wonderful gift that can be discussed openly. But just as we should follow God’s plan for sex in our lives, we should also govern the way we speak of it.
In pointing the fact out, this is not an attempt to say that sex is not important, or that sexual purity is not a universal standard that God expects from every believer… it is. The Bible makes it repeatedly clear that sex is one of the black and white issues for God. He designed it for the exclusive context of marriage.
However, we often overlook a higher standard that Paul is calling for here. Look at some of the phrases here: “must not be named,” “no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking,” “Let no one deceive you with empty words,” “it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.” Paul is warning against the crass attitudes and flippancy with which our culture approaches sex.
Sex is not taboo, or some dark evil thing of which we should be ashamed. It is a normal and wonderful gift that can be discussed openly. But just as we should follow God’s plan for sex in our lives, we should also govern the way we speak of it.
Comments
Post a Comment