Start Me Up

The day we are born, argues Rob Bell*, we newborns cry because we sense that we are disconnected. We travel through life and discover that we are disconnected in a thousand ways from each other, from God, from ourselves, and from our world.

Is it possible then, that there is a spiritual side of our sexuality that is about reconnecting with our humanity and the humanity of others? Is it possible that the temptation to sex outside of the covenant context is really about our deep spiritual hunger not to be lonely, not to be isolated, not to be disconnected?

If I’m right then it’s easy to see why sex sells so well. It is physically gratifying and has the potential – in the right context – of being spiritually sating. It’s also easy to see why we struggle with addiction to sex and its commercial substitutes like pornography, prostitution, and strip clubs. Ultimately, sexual temptation is the temptation to trade God for a God-substitute. The illusion of intimacy is at once convincing and appealing in a disparate existence.

The haunting Kris Kristofferson tune Help Me Make It Through the Night sums up the longing for connection that I’m talking about:

Take the ribbon from your hair,
Shake it loose and let it fall,
Layin' soft upon my skin.
Like the shadows on the wall.
Come and lay down by my side till the early morning light
All I'm takin' is your time.
Help me make it through the night.
I don't care what's right or wrong,
I wont try to understand.
Let the devil take tomorrow.
Lord, tonight I need a friend.
Yesterday is dead and gone and tomorrow's out of sight.
And it's sad to be alone.
Help me make it through the night.

The challenge for Christians, if we’re honest, is that we want something we can see, taste, or feel and God’s presence in our lives doesn’t always provide that in the way we’d like. Sexual temptation is all around us and to deny we struggle with this is one of the best ways to give such temptation power.

So if you’re in Houston this weekend, join us on Sunday at 11:10 am for worship. I’ll be preaching a sermon entitled Start Me Up and I’ll toss out some ideas for how you and I can deal with our all-too-human sexual temptations. It’s part of a four part series called Desperate Sex Lives and will continue through the end of September.

Directions to my church can be found in the link on the sidebar.

Tempted like you,
Pastor Gary

*Rob Bell is the author of Sex God – Exploring the Endless Connections Between Sexuality and Spirituality. The idea I mention is found in chapter 2, “Sexy on the Inside.”

Everybody's Got a Hungry Heart

Written July 4, 2007

I was alone watching the charcoal burn down enough to grill the steaks here on vacation last night. I watched a kid of probably 13 or 14 ride his bike around the circle of beach houses something like 12 times in a 6 minute period. He scanned all the houses, watching the various people and he looked lonesome. What was he looking for? Company? Friendship? Someone to ride along? Someone to stop and talk to?

I've seen the same kid several times already this week doing the same thing. Lonesome and restless he was looking for someone to hang out with, something new, something exciting, so he pedaled on. Everybody’s like that in some way, especially the restless ones – always looking for the next thing, the next friendship, the next thing to conquer, the next possession to obtain.

There’s little contentedness in life for a restless person, and this kid’s got it bad. Riding that bike around the circle of beach houses, he looked like some adults I’ve seen going around the big circle. Always pedaling harder and harder – if they just go around the circle one more time they’ll find something new, something exciting, something to satisfy that hungry heart.

Only thing is, kid, that’s an illusion. What little satisfaction for the hungry heart exists is elusive, so you just keep riding around the circle until you realize it’s not on this block. So you move on to the next circle of little houses. And when you conquer that one you realize there’s no satisfaction there, so you move on to the next one. You find bigger circles to pedal around madly until, if you're lucky, you realize that no loop is going to satisfy the hunger.

You might expect the preacher to talk about the satisfaction that God brings. You might expect me to talk about the “peace that surpasses all understanding.” You might expect me to quote Augustine with, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”

But not today. Today I’m content to sing along with Bruce and just be a hungry heart with that kid.

Lay down your money and you play your part, everybody’s got a hungry heart.