9/13/09 Leader's Guide

Glued

The Week of September 13^th

Getting Started:

Do you believe the church community should address the subject of sex more or less? Why?

What are some of the positive and negative ways the media portrays sex? What do you think should change? What should stay the same?

Positive: The topic of sexuality is seen as important and requiring dialogue in some media contexts.

Negative: Often, the boundaries of sexuality are broadened to fit each person’s preference. Typically monogamy is viewed as that which stifles expression. The irony is that our culture often considers that it has a high view of sexuality, but Biblically our culture cheapens sexuality by removing the important boundaries set for expression. It’s like the guy who says he loves his racecars, but keeps entering them in crash derbies.

What are some of the positive and negative ways the church portrays sex? What needs to change? What should stay the same?

Positive: The church has been strong on the boundaries of sexuality.

Negative: The church has been weak on celebrating human sexuality, as well as instructing people clearly on the topic.

Digging Deeper

One of God’s purposes for sex is to create oneness in a marriage. In what ways can sex create oneness? In what ways can it be divisive?

Sex creates oneness…

Physically – Most obviously, it create oneness through physical touch. It connects one of the greatest physical pleasures to another person.

Emotionally – There can be emotional alignment. Studies link regular sexual activity in married couples to the longevity of their marriages.

Spiritually – Body and spirit are connected, and so sexuality and spirituality are connected. If violating God’s plan for human sexuality is something with negative spiritual consequences (i.e. sin), then obeying God’s plan for sexuality is something with positive spiritual consequences.

"Sex can be a wonderful cementer or a terrible wedge.” Dr. Linda Banner

Read Genesis 2:24. In what ways are we “united”? What does it mean to be “one flesh”?

After God had declared that everything he had created was “good,” there was one thing he said wasn’t: man was alone (Genesis 2:18). Which means that God created Adam “incomplete,” needing the union of another. To illustrate the dependency of man and women on each other, God took one of Adam’s rib from his body and formed Eve. The illustration was that Adam was missing something that must be very much a part of him . In their marital union and sexual connection, we have the union (even reuniting) with the result that Adam and Eve are made complete.

Genesis 2:25 says they were naked and felt no shame, after sin entered the world, they covered themselves. While there is much theological symbolism there, in what ways do you think sin has affected sex in marriage?

Augustine speculates that prior to sin, both Adam and Eve had amazing control over their bodies (they were “sovereigns” of their bodies). But when they refused to have God has the sovereign of their lives, one of God’s punishments was to take away their control over their bodies. The shame they felt in the garden was the sense that they were no longer in the same control of their sexuality that they had prior to the fall. This was an unmistakable sign that they had fallen from grace.

In 1 Corinthians 6:16 is a reference to Genesis 2:24. What is God pointing out by applying a marriage verse (Gen 2:24) to sleeping with a prostitute?

God is showing (1) the power and significance of the physical union of sex (one becomes one flesh with a prostitute – becoming part of her) and (2) how our physical union affects our relationship with Christ. As if to say, if you’re a Christian, you are one with Christ. If as a Christian you engage in sexual immorality, becoming one flesh with someone (in this case a prostitute), then you are “uniting” Christ with immorality.

Read Proverbs 5:15-20. What image does Solomon use to encourage his son to stay faithful to his wife? How does the image make his point?

Read Proverbs 5:21-23. What are some consequences Solomon lists for those who ignore God’s design for sexuality?

(1) God’s displeasure (vs.21)

(2) Consequences (spiritual, emotional, physical*) that our difficult to reverse (vs.22).

(3) Spiritual Wandering (vs.23)

*”At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women will have a genital HPV infection at some point in their lives. HPV, or human papillomavirus, comes in both low- and high-risk forms; low-risk HPV can cause genital warts, and high-risk can cause cervical and other cancers.”

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Putting It Into Practice:

What can we do this week to guard ourselves against unwanted and unbiblical sexual messages?