The culture sounds confident when it comes to sex. But if you look closely, it’s actually very confused.

One of its primary messages is that sex is no big deal. But…

• Sex is no big deal, but it’s everywhere. Whether you’re watching the Super Bowl, standing in line at the store, or reading news online, it’s nearly impossible not to run into sexual content.
• Sex is no big deal, but pornography is one of our largest industries. Adult web sites garner more visitors than Netflix, Twitter, and Amazon combined.
• Sex is no big deal, but a person’s sexual desires define them. Until only about a century ago, words like homosexual and heterosexual weren’t nouns, they were adjectives. And they didn’t describe a person, they described behaviors. Now we identify people as gay, straight, and bi based on sexual feelings they have.
• Sex is no big deal, but everyone should be doing it. Those committed to abstinence are either repressed or something else is psychologically wrong with them. In other words, every form of consenting sexual expression is good, except virginity.

Confident or no, the culture’s messages disagree with themselves. Confident or no, we can’t ignore the trail of fatherless homes, aborted babies, sexual diseases, and broken hearts left in their wake.

Sex is a big deal.

As I write, I’m sitting in a café during lunch. All around me are men, women, and children. Some have light skin, some dark. Some are young, some are old. Some are tall, some are short. There’s long hair and short hair of all colors. Some are here alone, others are with friends, and others with a spouse. When I pause to look closely, each face reveals hints of a unique life, a unique story lived and being lived.

These lives, each one, came into being through the sexual union of a man and a woman.

It’s nothing short of miraculous.

Sex is a big deal if for no other reason than the fact that every single person on the planet—no matter what they think about sex, no matter how they define themselves sexually, no matter what their sexual morality—every one is here because of sex.

Why did God choose to start every new life through this thing called sex? Why did He decide this would be the way He’d bring each of us into the world?

Christianity teaches that sex is a big deal because it points to the biggest deal: That God created us out of a desire to love us. He wasn’t bored, lonely, or in need of servants to obey Him. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit created sex between husband and wife to give us a glimpse—a glorious, sacred glimpse—into the ecstatic, everlasting love of the Trinity.

And to invite us to share in His love.

Question: How can we help those around us both inside and outside the church to value sex more?

Looking,
Josh