Sexuality and Idolatry...

At the church where I serve, we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled Relationships or Relationsinks. During this series, we are discovering what the Bible has to say about lasting relationships. This week, I would like for us to have a blunt conversation about sex. And to have that blunt conversation about sex, I would like for us to look a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Bible that was written by a man that we know today as the Apostle Paul to a church that was located in Corinth Greece, called the book of 1 Corinthians.

The reason why this letter is so significant is due to the striking similarities between the Corinthian culture of Paul’s day and modern American culture. Just as in America, the Corinthian culture tended to worship sex, just in a little more public and prominent way. For example, the temple of Aphrodite in Corinth had 1,000 prostitutes that helped people to worship, shall we say.

In addition, the city of Corinth was so known for its sexuality and sexual practices that the phrase “to act Corinthian” was coined to describe having sex outside of marriage. So instead of saying, “I’m going to hook up with someone”, “Or I am going to swipe on Tinder”, people during this time of history would say “I’m going to act Corinthian”.  The parallels between Corinthian and American culture are striking.

And the members of the church of Corinth had questions for Paul when it came to how they should engage in sex as followers of Jesus in the midst of this culture. So, as part of his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul responded and answered their questions regarding sex. So, let’s look at the questions that the members of the church brought to the Apostle Paul’s attention, in 1 Corinthians 6:12:

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body. Now God has not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through His power.

Paul begins this section of his letter to the church at Corinth by repeating a statement that the members of the church of Corinth had stated to him in defense of how they were behaving sexually: “all things are lawful for me”. The members of the church at Corinth believed that, as followers of Jesus, they now had the freedom to engage in wide range of sexual activities. “All things are lawful for me when it comes to how I express myself sexually” was their position before Paul.

Here’s the thing: is that any different from our culture today? Just think about the messages that we hear from friends, family, the culture, and even from some Christians. “That is so old fashioned and outdated thinking. Why don’t you catch up to the times? Exercise the freedom that you could have as a result of God’s grace”. You see the topic of sexuality and sexual freedom of expression is not a new debate: the topic of sexuality and how we should be able to express our sexuality has been a debate that has been raging for thousands of years.

In the second half of verse 12, we see Paul’s response to the members of the church of Corinth’s claim that they had freedom to engage in a variety of sexual activities. In his response, Paul points out two timeless realities to the church. First, Paul states that while the members of the church at Corinth believed that all things were lawful when it came to how they expressed themselves sexually, not all things are profitable. While we may believe that we have a great deal of freedom as followers of Jesus to express ourselves sexually, not all of these behaviors are advantageous or benefit our well being. 

Second, Paul states that while the members of the church at Corinth believed that all things were lawful when it came to how they expressed themselves sexually, he, for his part will not be mastered by anything. The word mastered here conveys the sense of being controlled or enslaved by something. Paul’s point is that while we may believe that we have a great deal of freedom as followers of Jesus to express ourselves sexually, we can run the risk of being controlled or enslaved by many types of behavior.

And the reality is that while God gives us the freedom to make choices when it comes to how we express ourselves sexually, those choices have consequences that are neither advantageous or beneficial. And while God gives us the freedom to make choices when it comes to how we express ourselves sexually, those choices can, and often do, enslave us in a lifestyle that ends up moving us away from God.

Then, in verse 13, Paul explained to the members of the church at Corinth that the sexual freedom that they were pursuing is only temporary. Paul used the analogy of eating to help drive his point home. While the activity of eating involves a pleasurable relationship between food and our stomach, the enjoyment that we receive as a result of that relationship is temporary. I mean when you really think about it, the pleasure of eating only lasts until we are hungry again, doesn’t it?  

And just like eating, sex is an appetite that is only satisfied when it is fed, and that satisfaction only lasts until the appetite reappears. The apostle then contrasted the temporary nature of physical pleasure with the eternal relationship that occurs between followers of Jesus and their Lord and Savior. When Paul states that the body is not for immorality, the word immorality describes any unlawful sexual intercourse, which would be any sexual activity that occurs outside of a marriage relationship. Paul’s point here is that we were not designed to be engaged in relationships that promote unlawful sexual intercourse, which are temporary in nature. Instead we were designed to have an eternal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Paul then provided the proof that we were designed for such a relationship by pointing to the resurrection of Jesus. Just as God raised Jesus from the dead, God will also raise followers of Jesus from the dead in order to participate in the eternal relationship with Him that we were created for and have received as a result of believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader. The core issue that Paul here is exposing is the issue of idolatry, which is the worship of something other than God as God.

You see, for the members of the church at Corinth, their desire to have sexual freedom had become an idol; their pursuit of pleasure through sex was more important than their pursuit of their relationship with Jesus. And it was this worship of the sex that was moving them away from their worship of their Creator. And in the same way today, we commit idolatry when we place our sexual appetites and pleasure over our relationship with Jesus.

Tomorrow, we will see Paul continue to address the belief that the members of the church at Corinth had when it came to how they expressed themselves sexually…