As Americans, we are both sexual and spiritual people. We carry the New Testament on Sunday Morning and our Viagra pills on Saturday afternoon. Even the Google searches speak of a nation torn between sex and spirituality as pornography and religion top the search engine queries in both the Red and Blue States.
American 21st Century living proposes a platform where both stand juxtaposed in perfect equilibrium. Although the Europeans claim the patent on sexual liberation and openness, our sexual mores incorporate a cosmic and religious thread that facilitates a healthy discipline in order to prevent what all Americans reject in respect to all activities or philosophies; extremes. Are we as a society sexually oppressed? I would rather speculate that we err on the side of sexual caution.
As we historically contextualize the rise and fall of great empires, one common factor resonates throughout; the lack of self-control particularly in the area of sexual conduct.
Is sex outside of marriage a sin? Yes. Sex outside of marriage speaks of the most intimate of human relationships without institutional and divine framework necessary for efficacy.
On the other hand when self righteous decorum easily points at the failure of those who fall short of God’s glory, Americans embrace Grace and forgiveness far quicker than sentences of eternal perdition. As a people, we must identify sexual misconduct including adultery and fornication as an egregious violation of God’s order. Yet we must also oppose judgmental indignation, legalism and self-righteousness. The reason why Clinton’s poll numbers skyrocketed after his adulterous scandal speaks more of a nation who found more in common with his weakness than with his strengths.
At the end of the day, our public lives and our private behavior must complement each other. Although the sexual lives of leaders must meet the moral and God ordained standards embraced by almost all major religions, one promise assures us that repentance precedes forgiveness and our relationship with God supersedes our public approval. Our sexual lives stand in judgment not by a court of pubic opinion but in the private chambers and hallowed halls of a Righteous God.
We are sexual, spiritual, forgiving and private but still tempted by a public exposing of one’s sin as long as it's not our own.
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