A Christian View of Sex and the Imagination

Redeming Eros:A Christian View of Sex and the Imagination

H.L. Mencken once defined a Puritan as, "somebody who was desperately afraid that somebody somewhere might be having a good time." Unfortunately, that is the impression many people have about evangelical Christians, particularly when it comes to our views on sex.
David Wayne has a series of posts in which he tries to dispel that false notion. But he does find that the misperception contains a kernel of truth:

Although Christians believe that sex is good the negativity with which we talk about sex really prevents us from gaining a hearing in the world today. I think that, rather than merely telling people that sex outside of marriage is bad, we should be saying something along the lines of "sex is so good within marriage that you are foolish to waste it outside of marriage." I know that sounds like semantics, but it has a more positive spin.

Part of the problem with getting a message like that across is that many Christians probably really don't believe that in their hearts. They may say it, but their actions belie their words. Although my little slogan up there about sex being so good in marriage may sound nice and just like the thing a pastor should say, I realize that many people in the church don't really believe that in their hearts. This is why there is so much use of pornography and so much sexual activity outside of marriage.

David is absolutely right. While most Christians would claim that they believe the Biblical view of sex and that true sexual fulfillment can only be found in marriage, our actions show that we don't really believe that to be the case at all. Many of us secretly harbor a suspicion that somebody somewhere really is finding both fun and fulfillment while being sexually promiscuous.
The key to understanding the reason for our inability to act as we claim to believe can be found in Jeff Clinton's post on belief formation:

To believe something, one must be able to entertain the possibility that the belief might be true. It must be part of your plausibility structure. A plausibility structure is the set of ideas of that a person is willing to entertain as possibly true. It is largely a function of the beliefs a person already has.

The claim that true sexual fulfillment can only be found in marriage is so foreign to our society's plausibility structure that even those with a biblical worldview have trouble believing it. We can hardly even imagine how such an idea could possibly be true because we refuse to even acknowledge the existence, much less the need for, a Christian to have an erotic imagination. But we do have erotic imaginations; we just haven't brought them under the Lordship of Christ.
Although art is the primary medium for feeding our imaginations, evangelical Christians have removed all erotic concepts from our artworks. We freely admit that, when taken on their own, both sex and art are good gifts of God. Yet we act as if combining the two produces a toxic mixture whose very fumes cause us to succumb to lust. We have become so disdainful of the idea that sex has a place in Christian art that many of us cannot even read the Song of Songs, one of the greatest works of erotic art, without trying to strip it of all but a "spiritual" meaning.
But unless we allow our imaginations to become completely atrophied, we will be influenced by both secular art and the base obscenities that are prevalent in our society. We are faced with a strict dichotomy: we will either be influenced by the unregenerate and often p0rn0graphic products of our culture or we will be shaped be art produced from a Biblically informed worldview.

If Christians are serious about restoring God's vision of sex and marriage then we must work to produce erotic art that is redemptive in character. We must change the plausibility structure by showing how erotic art differs from p0rn0graphy. In an address at Regent University, John Stuart Peck argues that the difference between erotic art and pornography, and the distinctive qualities of a Christian view of sex in art lie in the following:

(1) in the extent to which the dominant effect is to induce sexual arousal;(2) in the focus on the relationship involved rather than sexual gratification; (3) the degree to which it is redemptive and rescues our sexual life from improper exposure and from the idea that sex is an activity with no meaning beyond the physical experience.

Peck uses the example of the parable of the Good Samaritan to show how the plausibility structure can be changed by art:

Because Christians are under the inspiration of the cross and the resurrection and because of the fact that we worship a rescuing God, Christian art has to be something that sees itself as liberating people's imagination so that things which otherwise would be unthinkable become possible. I would suggest that you read through the parable of the Good Samaritan again as an example of that. The story actually liberates the imagination of the questioner, so that at the end he can actually visualize the possibility that a Samaritan might actually be a neighbor. In that sense, the story liberates him. Of course whether he wants to be liberated is another matter, but we're all up against that problem.

Indeed, we are faced with a culture that doesn't want to be liberated from its false notion that sexual fulfillment is contingent upon technique, experience, and variety rather than in a deep-rooted commitment and loving relationship. But Christians not only have the ability to change this plausibility structure, we have a distinct advantage: our beliefs are true.

We also have a responsibility to act. When we allow false views of sex to remain unchallenged we are providing a silent affirmation that we don't really believe what we claim. On this issue we not only possess the truth but have the means-our God given creative abilities-to shape the erotic imagination. Once we do that we truly can show society that sex is so good within marriage that it really is foolish to waste it on anything less.

Source - http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com