Sex God--Part 2

And these are my concluding thoughts on an overly amazing book.

By far the chapter that resonated with me the most was Chapter 5: She Ran Into the Girls' Bathroom. The chapter is about risking love, taking a chance, and sometimes facing rejection--experiencing heartache.

Rob Bell references Genesis 6:6 "Then YHWH (God) was sorry that he had made humankind on earth, and it pained his heart." God gave us the right to choose, and from the beginning we rejected Him. We rejected his law, we rejected his will and ultimately we rejected--and continue to reject--his love. To quote Bell "God takes this giant risk in creating and loving people, and in the process God's heart is broken." (pg 97). What we can learn from this is that if our Creator can take the risk of allowing all mankind to reject him for eternity, we can take the chance to love--not only in the sense of a romantic relationship, but also our enemies, our neighbors, our coworkers, our family, etc.--and risk being rejected. Because honestly, we will be rejected. It's unrealistic to think that our love will be reciprocated 100% of the time. We live in a broken world and because of this we face imperfect love.

Further quoting Bell, "Love is handing your heart to someone and taking the risk that they will hand it back because they don't want it. That's why it's such a crushing ache on the inside. We gave away a part of ourselves and it wasn't wanted." (pg 98) All I have to say to that is--wow.

So then Bell goes on to explain how we can risk loving others:

Contrast this [bullying others to appear strong] with people who appear weak but are actually quite strong. It's when someone says something mean or cutting about us and everything within us wants to one-up them with an even nastier comment in return, thus winning the exchange, but we hold our tongue. We "lose" the round, but what we did took tremendous strength And it would take even more strength to forgive them and then maybe even love them. It would all appear quite weak to the observer, unless they understood that what they were witnessing was actually strength in action. (pg 103)

How incredible counter-cultural is that?!? To turn the other cheek? To hold your tongue? To not defend yourself? How incredibly hard is that. Try it! And then...try LOVING the person that you're trying so hard not to talk bad about.

And now the part that really resonates with me:

This can transform our experience of heartbreak. Instead of being something that distances us from God, causing us to question, "Where are you?" every poem by a lover spurned, every song sung with an ache, every movie with a gut-wrenching scene, every late-night conversation and empty box of Kleenex are glimpses into the life of God. (pg 106)

Our healing begins when we participate in the suffering of God. When we don't avoid it but enter into it, and in the process enter into the life of God. Wen we see our pain not as separating us from but connecting us to our maker. (pg 107)

So wait, hold up here. Is he? Could he be? What Bell's suggesting is that we experience broken hearts in our lifetime so that, maybe, we can gain a slight understanding of the broken heart God is constantly feeling when mankind continually rejects His love. When I think about the heartbreak I've experienced, I realize that surely it must be nothing in comparison to how badly it must hurt to have mankind reject you...generations upon generations rejecting your law, refusing to trust that your way truly is THE way. What pain that must be. So maybe, I can gain a slight understanding of the sadness God felt when the world rejected his Son and sent him to the cross.

And the last one from this chapter, "Our greatest wounds rarely come from strangers." (pg 108). How true that is. The sting of strangers' rejection lasts mere seconds...but the people we really care about...when they choose to reject us or hurt us...that pain lingers and is the hardest to overcome, to forgive, and to love through.

There really is so much more in this book that is truly astounding. Go read the book. Go. And when you're done, let's discuss. I like theological discussions. True story. :)

Sex God

So did that get your attention? I thought so.

I've been reading a book by Rob Bell called Sex God. Bell's claim is that sexuality and spirituality are endlessly connected. And through reading his book and thinking through a lot of his teachings, I see his point. In fact, in the first chapter he explains the purpose of the book pretty clearly:

Sex. God. They're connected. And they can't be
separated. Where the one is, you will always find the other. This s a book
about how sexuality is the "this" and spirituality is the "that." To make sense of
the one, we have to explore the other.

And that is what this book is about.

I'm only about halfway through the book so far, but let me provide you all with some of the points from the book that have really been weighing on my heart and mind lately.

• "When Jesus talks about heaven and hell, they are first and foremost present realities that have serious implications for the future. Either can be invited to earth, right now, through our actions. It's possible for heaven to invade earth. And it's possible for hell to invade earth." (pg 22)--So my thoughts are: What kind of impact am I making? Am I introducing heaven here on earth to people? What kind of witness am I being?
• "Moments when all of the ways that we divide ourselves and rank each other and convince ourselves of how different, better, and unalike we are disappear and we are faced with the fact that first and foremost, we are humans. In this together. And not that much different from each other." (pg 26) Thoughts: How judgemental and insensitive can I be to a person's situation? How often do I fail to place myself in the shoes of others? And how many times do I feel inadequate compared to someone else? How unappreciative have I been of the life that God has given me?
• "We were born into a world, into a condition of disconnection. Things were created to be a certain way, and they're not that way, and we feel it in every fiber of our being...we're severed and cut off and disconnected in a thousand ways, and we know it, we feel it, and we're aware of it every day. It's an ache in our bones that won't go away...Our sexuality, then, has two dimensions. First, our sexuality is our awareness of how profoundly we're severed and cut off and disconnected. Second, our sexuality is all of the ways we go about trying to reconnect."(pg 40) Thoughts: I mean, think about it, how many times do you hear in movies or see on tv something along the lines of 2 individuals talking about how they feel closest when they're having sex. And how much of media is based on sexuality? We're just trying to connect. Because of the broken condition of humanity, we look for connections everywhere besides where we find the one true connection--God. And so undoubtedly, we are left unfulfilled and longing for something more when we fill the desire for connections with meaningless relationships, defining careers, a nonstop social life and more.
• "...we aren't angels and we aren't animals" (pg 64) Thoughts: When we allow ourselves to blame our actions on our animalistic nature, we discredit the order in which God created us. We discredit our ability to think, to reason, to feel, to love, to have any sort of emotion. We discredit our ability to have any say in our actions. But when we allow ourselves to believe we are angels, we are setting ourselves up for failure. For we have humanistic natures and we live in a world of sin. Bell talks about how, as humans, we were created after angels and after animals. As God created the world, he brought it more and more out of chaos. So for us to think we are angels or animals, we are going back towards chaos when we should be moving forward--continuing the creation.
• "Lust promises what it can't deliver...Lust comes from a deep lack of satisfaction with life. This is why we have to slow down and reflect on our lies before we'll ever begin to sort out the significance of this. Lust often starts with a thought somewhere in our head or heart: 'If I had that/him/her/it, then I'd be...' Lust is always built on a lie...Think about the head space we give to things and people we want. it's easy for our thoughts to be dominated by a craving. We're in a meeting, we're taking a walk, were studying, we're doing jobs around the house, and the whole tie our brain is miles away, trying to figure out how to get it...Lust is slavery...But freedom isn't being able to have whatever we crave. Freedom is going without whatever we crave and being fine with it." (pgs 73-75) Thoughts: Oh so many thoughts on this section. It's about so much more than sexual lust. By lusting for anything, whether it be a relationship, a job, a lifestyle, a body type, material goods, etc., we are telling God that what He has given us is not good enough. We are telling him that his plan which is Perfect is not good enough for us. Who are we to tell God it's not good enough??? And by living in lust, we are not allowing ourselves to live fully content lives of purpose. We are distracted from the task at hand by this thing that lurks in the back of our minds. It's a vicious cycle spurred on by our sinful nature, our broken condition, our culture, etc. Our only option to break this cycle, to gain freedom, is to be prayerful in asking God to help us be content and satisfied with what we have--asking for help in overcoming those urges and cravings for something more. Find "something more" in God.

So that's about where I'm at right now. The book has so much to say that I have to continuously go back and skim over sections. And so, go buy the book, start reading, and then start conversing with me about your learnings. Sex. God. Two words you never thought would be connected...until now.