Living in a Sex-Saturated Society

Sex sells, but what does it cost?

In the world of dystopian literature, there are two books that stand out as significant works representing warnings of society’s downfall from two distinctly different sources.  The first, 1984 by George Orwell, presents the “Big Brother” concept in which the totalitarian government oppresses its people with total control over every sector of life.  The second, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, presents the concept of a society which is so obsessed with pleasure that they sedate themselves with sex and drugs to the point that nothing else matters but the next dose of pleasure.  Which is scarier: a pit that we’re trapped in or a pit that we choose to trap ourselves in?

I’ll admit that I think in a sense we are headed in the directions of both novels.  There has certainly been an increase in government control and oppression in our modern society, but there has been an even steeper decline into the world that Huxley feared we would create for ourselves: a driving obsession with pleasure that will ultimately destroy us.

I say all of that to get to this: we as a society, not only in America but in the world at large, are obsessed with pleasure.  That applies in a lot of ways, but I’m just going to talk about the biggest one: sex. 

Pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry.  Alfred Kinsey is heralded as a hero of science and Sigmund Freud is honored as the father of modern psychology.  Homosexuality and more recently pedophilia are no longer viewed as perversions but “alternative lifestyles.”  While these things have been around for as far back as history goes, they are becoming rampant at a rate that is nearly unprecedented. 

Here’s the thing: society goes through degradation.  That is a simple fact.  How can we as Christians live in a sex-saturated society while not being of it?  We’ve all heard the ultimatums: don’t have sex before marriage, bounce your eyes, and don’t lust after something that isn’t yours.  That’s pretty simple (if you aren’t too sure about the statements I just made, read Matthew 5:27-28, 1 Corinthians 6:9, and Hebrews 13:4).  However, there are some things that are being left out in the chanted mantras among high school Bible classes and youth lectureships. 

I once heard someone say that Satan isn’t very original, he just perverts something God gave as a blessing and makes it into something evil and twisted.  I don’t think that’s ever been more true than with sex.  Hebrews 13:4 says “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” (MKJV).   This passage is often used to talk about fornicators and adulterers, but let’s think about those that are married for a minute.  Does this say that sex is dirty?  Does this say that sex is evil?  No, much the opposite.  Within the marriage context, sex is part of God’s plan.  The bed is undefiled.  The same was true in the original marriage in Genesis 2:25: “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (MKJV). 

What is missing is a respect for sex in its proper abode.  We preach not to have premarital sex and to avert our eyes, which is good and right, but neglect to show where sex is meant to be.  Again, we should be preaching against premarital sex and against lust, but if that’s all we do, we are treating the symptoms and not the disease.  A respect for sex in its proper place will lead us to the point where won’t want the perversion.

Let’s say you marry your high school sweetheart, your first love.  The only person you have ever felt anything for.  You are happily married for years with a healthy, loving relationship.  Then one day you come home and find him or her with someone else.  How are you going to feel?  Betrayed.  Because one of the most sacred parts of your relationship has been violated: the exclusive sexual union.

This is especially important for single people to understand.  When we look with desire upon someone who is not our spouse, we are doing the same thing that the third individual in the previous paragraph was doing.  We have violated them and their spouse (regardless of consent), and robbed ourselves of the loving relationship in which the bed is undefiled.  That should disgust us.  It should repulse us. 

When we get that through our minds, we will no longer see how close we can get without crossing the line. 

We will push sexual perversion away like a piece of green meat. 

We will finally see it the way God sees it.

May that day come quickly