Smedes on Sex and Faith

The average Christian has an especially hard time integrating his sexuality with his faith. He is dedicated to a Lord whose earthly life was celibate and whose messengers were not interested in reporting his attitudes toward sex. He is summoned to follow the Lord into purity and holiness, neither of which is usually allowed to include an enthusiastic summons to sexual fulfillment. He is informed and guided by Scripture, whose word on sexuality is not always specific and clear. ...

The writers of the Bible did not make sexuality a major theme. They had more urgent matters on their minds: they were responding to the great acts of God for human salvation. They were not divinely inspired to theorize about sex. But it was just because they were bringing the good news for the whole person that they could not help saying something about human sexuality. ...

We can let the gospel open up a perspective for us on human life as a whole. The message of Christ gives us a point of view, a vista from which to understand and evaluate our total experience as human beings. It informs our attitudes, shapes our values, and points to our goals. It also speaks to us about our origins as body-persons, and about our inevitable tendency to distort life. And it offers the possibility of liberation from the powers of distortion and inhumanity.

In short, what we look for first is not a theory of sexuality nor a set of rules for sexual behavior; we look for an understanding of what we are, what we tend to make of ourselves, and what we can be through grace. And then we can fit our sexuality and our sexual behavior into the biblical pattern and the biblical perspective. What we want, then, is not sexual information first of all, but a view and an attitude toward out sexual lives that is informed by the gospel as a whole.

Lewis B. Smedes was an author, professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, and clergyman in the Reformed Church of America.