{"id":22058,"date":"2019-03-07T13:00:43","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T21:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=22058"},"modified":"2019-03-07T13:00:43","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T21:00:43","slug":"sex-as-sacrament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/sex-as-sacrament\/","title":{"rendered":"Sex as sacrament"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AdobeStock_25543571b.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22070\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AdobeStock_25543571b.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"951\" height=\"634\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AdobeStock_25543571b.jpg 951w, https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AdobeStock_25543571b-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AdobeStock_25543571b-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/AdobeStock_25543571b-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 951px) 100vw, 951px\" \/><\/a>I\u2019m going to get personal here. It might make you uncomfortable. Because I don\u2019t mean to pry, but how is your sex life? Jonathan Grant, in his book <em>Divine Sex: A Compelling Vision for Christian Relationships<\/em>, would argue that the answer to this question is not just something for you and your partner to agree upon. Sex is not just about two people consenting to action under the sheets but something that impacts society as well.<\/p>\n<p>Strangely, in our hypersexualized culture where sex seems to be shouted from the rooftops, we reduce it down to actions undertaken by consenting adults. Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, p\u00e8re of current PM Justin, famously stated when decriminalizing homosexual acts in the 1960s, \u201cThere\u2019s no room for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn1\" name=\"_ftnref1\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pierre Trudeau - Bedrooms of the Nation\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6OoqgGgmVmI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The first half of Grant\u2019s book is distressing to read. The author provides us with a laundry list of ills that befall us in our postmodern, secular age where sex is commodified as one\u2019s own unique pathway to happiness: pornography, online matchmaking, so-called serial monogamy, sexual fantasy. When the locus of these activities occurs outside a shared, covenantal marriage commitment, these isolated and isolating activities feed oneself alone. As mentioned in previous posts which highlight the challenges of a postmodern reality, these experiences are flat, and for all the buzz around sexual freedom and experimentation, strangely two-dimensional. They are also addictive, and new neurological links are created that urge their voracious feeding even more.<\/p>\n<p>In the second half is where some hope begins to peek through. Grant claims that a robust Christian imagination for sexual ethics and practice has four areas for consideration: eschatological, metaphysical, formational, and missional. Reviewer Brad Lau states, \u201cA Christian vision is eschatological in that sexuality is seen within the larger context of creation; it is metaphysical in creating consistency between the way things should be on earth and the reality of heaven; it is formational in guiding us toward what Christ wants us to be and do in terms of values and character; and it is missional in that sexuality should express our living witness in and to this world.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn2\" name=\"_ftnref2\"><sup>[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Already one can see that the original purpose of sex is beyond one\u2019s immediate self-gratification. Yet today\u2019s culture warriors resist this notion as self-expression is given priority status, and one\u2019s own pleasure take pre-eminence. Dustin Resch accurately perceives how the author adapts Charles Taylor\u2019s language for our secular age, stating: \u201cThe age of authenticity is a description of the uniquely modern phenomenon in which individual self-expression (authenticity) with regard to sexual behavior is taken as an ultimate value, such that any suggestion of moral guidance that might curtail sexual expression is not well received or is disregarded.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn3\" name=\"_ftnref3\">[3]<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In contrast, Grant proposes that sex has a greater purpose and role in society. It\u2019s more than the exchange of bodily fluids, a fleeting orgasmic release, and a warm cuddle after. Within the marriage covenant, sexual union is one of the greatest building blocks of society, based on a willingness to trust another without restraint, each union representing a lifetime of sacrifice and surrender. Procreation is always implicit, as sex engenders life and the continuity of humanity. The good feelings, in my opinion, are only side benefits.<\/p>\n<p>Lau correctly states that Grant \u201c\u2026offers a glimpse into a covenant community of connected relationships that frames our own individual stories within a much larger story. It is this sense of community that is counter-culturally life-giving and points to the Gospel and to a dynamically engaging relationship with Jesus Christ as the true source of meaning and purpose.\u2026Grant affirms C. S. Lewis in noting \u201cthat it is not the taming of desire that will set us free but rather the unleashing and enlarging of true desire\u201d. And, of course, that \u201ctrue desire\u201d is found only in the One who truly satisfies every longing of the human soul.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn4\" name=\"_ftnref4\"><sup>[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Understanding sex as sacrament is one way to enrich and expand the way we currently tend to see sexual union. Sacraments are means by which people of faith worship God and are a means by which God extends His grace to us. By the grace of this sacrament, community is built. By the grace of mutual, covenanted surrender, we are formed into Christ\u2019s image. Grant states, \u201cIn contrast to the modern view, sex indeed has mystery! It is ordained as an all-consuming act of union between committed lovers that points toward our bonding with God himself\u2026. The role of sex as a bonding agent among lovers and as a sacramental window into the kingdom of heaven makes it a key battleground for Christian formation.\u201d<a href=\"#_ftn5\" name=\"_ftnref5\">[5]<\/a> Let us hold this treasure in hands that value and honour this gift and mystery.<\/p>\n<p>________________________________________<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref1\" name=\"_ftn1\">[1]<\/a> CBC Digital Archives, \u201cThere\u2019s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation\u201d, accessed 7 March 2019, https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/archives\/entry\/omnibus-bill-theres-no-place-for-the-state-in-the-bedrooms-of-the-nation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref2\" name=\"_ftn2\">[2]<\/a> Brad A. Lau, &#8220;Divine Sex: A Compelling Vision for Christian Relationships in a Hypersexualized Age&#8221;\u00a0<em>Christian Scholar&#8217;s Review<\/em>\u00a046, no. 2 (2017): 191. Accessed 7 March 2019. https:\/\/georgefox.idm.oclc.org\/login?url=https:\/\/search-proquest-com.georgefox.idm.oclc.org\/docview\/1873850621?accountid=11085.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref3\" name=\"_ftn3\">[3]<\/a> Dustin Resch, &#8220;Divine Sex: A Compelling Vision for Christian Relationships in a Hypersexualized Age&#8221; <em>Anglican Theological Review<\/em> 98, no. 2 (2016): 406.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref4\" name=\"_ftn4\">[4]<\/a>\u00a0Lau, 192.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#_ftnref5\" name=\"_ftn5\">[5]<\/a> Jonathan Grant, <em>Divine Sex: A Compelling Vision for Christian Relationships in a Hypersexualized Age<\/em> (Grand Rapids MI: Brazos Press, 2015), 154.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m going to get personal here. It might make you uncomfortable. Because I don\u2019t mean to pry, but how is your sex life? Jonathan Grant, in his book Divine Sex: A Compelling Vision for Christian Relationships, would argue that the answer to this question is not just something for you and your partner to agree [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1477,1017],"class_list":["post-22058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-grant","tag-lgp8","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22058"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22071,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22058\/revisions\/22071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}