Society saturated with distorted images of sexuality, singles minister says_51704

Posted: 5/14/04

Society saturated with distorted images
of sexuality, singles minister says

By Ferrell Foster

Texas Baptist Communications

SAN ANTONIO–Sex can loom large in the life of single adults. They are bombarded by sexual enticements and perversions, whether or not they are sexually active, a single-adult minister told a statewide conference.

But churches, for a long time, have ignored the subject, said Ricky Chelette, minister of single adults/outreach at First Baptist Church of Arlington.

He led a workshop titled “Sexual Sensibility in an Out-of-Control World” during the Texas Single Adult Conference at First Baptist Church of San Antonio.

“We are barraged and overwhelmed with images of sexuality,” Chelette said, noting specifically the soft-core pornography of Abercrombie & Fitch sales pitches and the seduction of beer advertisements.

It's there because sex is appealing, the minister said. It's pleasurable, immediate, gives a person a sense of connection and is more dependable than relationships. Or at least it seems so.

“The majority of people looking for and having sex are looking for intimacy,” Chelette said.

To bring clarity to the issue, he offered three definitions.

Sex includes activities associated with sexual intercourse and feelings associated with the urge to gratify sexual impulses.

Love means doing what is best for the other person without hope of reciprocity.

Intimacy involves sharing one's life in totality–mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally.

“You can have intimacy without having sex,” Chelette said.

The Bible offers some corrections to the sinful picture of sex painted by the world, he said.

God created two sexes.

“God didn't make anybody homosexual,” Chelette said. Homosexuality will be “one of the defining social issues” of today, having become “quite prevalent in junior and senior high schools; but it is one of the results of sin.”

Sex is ordained by God.

Illustrating his point with two examples from the first book in the Old Testatment, he noted Genesis 2:24 says God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, and Genesis 1:26 indicates when a man and woman come together it “expresses the completeness of God.”

God established boundaries.

“God's restrictions are for our protection,” he said. “Every time you see a 'don't' in Scripture, it is always, always, always to protect you, … to make your joy complete.”

Some, of course, have crossed sexual boundaries. But Chelette reminded the single adults: “God is a God of redemption, … grace and forgiveness.”

God created sex for procreation and pleasure.

“Celebrate its beauty,” Chelette said.

He encouraged participants to determine God's calling in their lives–whether he intends them to be married or celibate.

“You're just as whole when you're single as when you're married,” Chelette said. “Embrace it; don't whine about it.”

A single person who believes he is “called to be married” still should “live today,” the minister said. “If you don't learn now to be satisfied in your singleness, you will not be satisfied in marriage.”