In this series of blog post, I am going to do several things. First, I am going to trace how the church has reacted to the cinema since its conception up until modern times. Second, I am going to note the differences between what certain directors have intended with their movies, and how these movies were received. Third, I am going to talk about movies as cultural expressions, and finally, what we as Christians should think and how we as Christians should proceed to engage in the cinema. Ultimately, we are seeking to answer “should the church be in conflict with cinema?”
Redbox, Netlfix, and Hulu have now become common household names in our culture. Movies and television shows are the number one source of entertainment for Americans, and I don’t see that trend changing for a long, long time. With something so common, so inundated into the fabric of our culture, have we as Christians stopped long enough to ask “what are we to think about the cinema?” Has it crossed our minds that such an enterprise as big as this is deserving of theological engagement and reflection? The issue goes much deeper than how much television we should let our kids watch, or whether or not we should let them watch it at all. It goes much deeper than the oft asked question and overly redundant dialogue of whether or not Christians should watch R rated movies. It is time to ask more challenging questions and move on to deeper reflection. At this point, I see that we as Christians have two main options: we can totally disengage ourselves from cinema and the culture, or we can engage it, address it, and at times, redeem it. I opt for the latter.
In this series of blog post, I am going to do several things. First, I am going to trace how the church has reacted to the cinema since its conception up until modern times. Second, I am going to note the differences between what certain directors have intended with their movies, and how these movies were received. Third, I am going to talk about movies as cultural expressions, and finally, what we as Christians should think and how we as Christians should proceed to engage in the cinema. Ultimately, we are seeking to answer “should the church be in conflict with cinema?”
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If there is ever an issue that needs redemption in both the church and the world, it is sex. The world distorts and degrades the beauty of this God ordained act. It distorts sex by abusing its intended purpose through pornography, fornication, homosexuality, and adultery. It degrades sex by referring to it as nothing more than a four letter word with “ing” slapped on the end of it. Sin has taken something lovely and disfigured it. As far as the church is concerned, many married couples never think twice about why sex is important and what God’s purpose is for it. Like most of the doctrines of the faith, the modern church has stopped thinking deeply about this one as well. The problem with this is that if Christian couples do not think deeply about the purpose and beauty of sex, they miss out on a level of intimacy that God intends for them to experience in their marriage. Furthermore, if Christian parents don’t understand the grand narrative of sex, they will not be able to teach their children properly about this subject. Because of this great need, our church will be taking the time to address this issue in three venues. The first is my writing about it in this article. Second, our youth minister, Nate Neufang, and I will be doing a podcast tomorrow that is strictly geared towards giving advice to parents on how to teach their teenagers about sex, love, and dating. Third, Nate will be talking to the youth about sex at Reverb this Sunday evening. My focus in this article is to simply give a biblical perspective on sex. Before we can correctly understand sex, we have to correctly understand marriage. In scripture, marriage is presented not as a sacrament (something that can impart God’s grace) or a contract (something that can be both formed and dissolved), but a covenant. As a covenant, marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman that is instituted by God and entered into before him, which is then consummated by sex. We see covenantal language concerning marriage in Geneses 2:24 with the phrase “one flesh.” More explicitly, we see the word “covenant” used in reference to marriage in Proverbs 2:1-17 and Malachi 2:14. This covenant idea is carried over into the New Testament when Paul uses the covenantal relationship between Christ and the church in reference to marriage. There are many implications of this covenant view of marriage, but the main one I wish to focus on is that of intimacy. Marriage is ordained by God to be the most intimate of all human relationships. It is the uniting of a man and women into a “one flesh” bond in which the man “leaves” his father and mother and “cleaves” to his wife. This “leaving and cleaving” signifies the establishment of a brand new, distinct family unit. The “one flesh” language of scripture suggest sexual intimacy, procreation, and at the very heart, the establishment of a new kind of kinship between two previously unrelated people. Because of this, I am convinced that Christian couples should be the ones having the “best” sex, not the world. Christians should see sex as another avenue in which they bring glory to God and experience his good for our lives. Sex has a purpose, and if we do not understand that purpose as Christians, the act of sex can become just as empty as the worlds. In essence, it means we are in danger of losing the heartfelt union that is to be felt between a husband and wife when they engage in sex. The Purpose of Sex Sex is a part of the disciple’s calling to live all of his or her life for the glory of God. This means that sex is to be placed in the service of God for his glory. As a couple matures in their walk with Christ, their sex should become more and more fulfilling, satisfying, heartfelt, and intimate. I think we would all agree that one of the purposes of sex is that of procreation. Since most of us understand this, I want to move on to some other areas that need to be expounded on. 1. Sex is meant to provide mutual pleasure in marriage. Yes, that is correct. God wants you to have good sex. He wants you to find deep sexual pleasure and satisfaction in your spouse. If you have any doubts, check out the book Song of Solomon. God desires that the sex between a married man and woman be so good, so pleasurable, and so fulfilling, that they crave one another. Such rich pleasure is meant to knit the heart of the man and woman together tightly. 2. Sex in marriage is meant to reduce sexual temptation. We definitely live in a sexually charged culture. We are bombarded with it at every turn. The propensity for sexual sin from adultery in the heart to adultery in the actions is immense. Paul actually speaks of this issue in 1 Cor. 7:1-4. He says that because of sexual temptation, the husband and wife shouldn't refrain from sex very long. This means that the husband and wife should have sex often. The continual practice of deep, pleasurable sex consistently keeps both spouses focused on finding their sexual fulfillment only in their covenant. 3. Sex in marriage produces mutual ownership. In 1 Cor. 7:3-4, Paul talks about how the husband’s body is not his own to do what he wishes, nor is the wife’s body her own to do as she wishes. This means that both the husband and wife should seek to give themselves fully and willingly to sex. It means that there is to be an unreserved surrender and giving oneself away in the act of sex with your spouse. It is where the wife gives herself fully to the husband, and the husband gives himself fully to the wife. It means that the husband doesn't just seek to find his own pleasure in the act, but seeks his wife’s enjoyment as well. This means that when viewed correctly, sex is meant to be one of the most selfless acts of love, as well as one of the most self-giving acts of love. Such a picture is indicative of how fully Christ gave himself to the church, and how fully the church is to give herself to Christ. 4. Sex in marriage produces a unique experience of communion between the husband and wife. The act of sex is what is meant to join the husband and wife together. When done throughout the years of marriage, sex serves as a consistent means of expressing commitment to one another. In consistently engaging in sex, the husband and wife are telling one another that they are committed to one another, and one another alone. In sex, couples communicate their love for each other in a way that is not shared with another person on earth. Sex, therefore, is a constant renewal of the marital covenant between the husband, wife, and God. Because of the depth of sex and the holiness of the marriage covenant, we can now understand why such sexual sins as fornication, adultery, and homosexuality are not even to be named among the people of God. These truths also help us see why it is so important that we as Christian husbands and wives should seek to glorify God more in our sex lives. Finally, understanding sex correctly will help us better communicate it to our children. But hey, I’m getting ahead of myself; more on that in our upcoming podcast. |
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