If you’re looking for another book on the sinfulness of sex outside of marriage or the need to accept everybody’s sexual preferences, this isn’t it.
Decrying the ignorance that masquerades as purity or godly sexuality, Jenson summons the liberal and conservative church alike to repentance and maturity in our understanding and experience of sex and spirituality.
An attenuated and unbiblical “ethic” rooted in gnostic, platonic, and enlightenment thinking has sapped the spiritual vitality of the sexual experience for millions of Christians who do not know how to have a healthy relationship with the body and its natural desires. Paying lip-service to ethics with the assumption that married = moral, there is little thought given to how the call to love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength might extend beyond the marriage ceremony and into the bedroom.
A haunting similarity between sexual challenges inside and outside of the church suggests that Christian pulpits have no alternative to offer a society of people who are hungry, searching, and ready to end the years of sexual confusion, shame, and questions.
Can it really be God’s will that his children be uninformed and haphazard about His first commandment and blessing to humanity?
Sacred not Sinful delivers an earnest and searing wake-up call to move beyond the moral impotence of sexual standards that have ensnared the church and culture in a web of shame, confusion, and oppression. A convergence of story, scripture, and analysis offers a compelling re-contextualization of key biblical passages that have been weaponized against Christians for decades.
Jenson uses his own story to expose the problematic teachings of purity culture that wreck sex for so many, and uncover a path to sexual flourishing for all humans regardless of gender or relationship status. His clear love of the scripture and deep persistent faith shine through intensive research into what the bible says about polyamory, homosexuality, premarital sex, gender identity, and the intimate connection between sexual identity and spiritual identity in the Christian life.
A long awaited course correction for Christian culture, this raw, intimate, and vulnerable story is poised to break the chains of ignorance that keep many Christians from the intimacy and ecstacy of God’s design for sexual wholeness.
Sexual ethics are not meant to be a coffin of rules, but a key to thriving relationships.
As heroes of the faith have long insisted, the Church has an irreplaceable role in shaping the culture of a nation. It is our duty to bring hope, life, love, and freedom to those who are trapped in cycles of violence, oppression, shame, and broken relationships – especially those who are weak and vulnerable.
This courageous and insightful work unravels the toughest questions with positive candor, an open heart, and academic rigor, illuminating what sex reveals about God, the world, and ourselves. Its roots sink deep into theological and philosophical history, blending a personal story of discovery with biblical analysis, deep reflection, and gentle conclusions.
Confident that God has called us to liberate the oppressed, to bring light to the darkness, Christians must overcome their fear and enter the cultural fray of gender and sexuality armed with the spiritual weapons of wisdom, love, power, and sound thinking.
Ignorance is no longer an option.
This may be the first modern book on Christian sexual ethics to go beyond “married = moral” and “love who you love”!
In 2018, Joshua Harris kissed purity culture goodbye and called into question the modern evangelical sexual ethic shared by Rob Bell and Matthew Vines that marriage makes it moral.
I was 30 years old and had (re)constructed my relationship with God, but I was still looking for the Bible verse, “thou shalt not have premarital sex” and facetiously hoping the rapture would come before I lost every man’s battle…again.
As a single Christian, there were only two options for a healthy sex life: “don’t do it” or “don’t judge me.”
I judged, because the only examples of sex that I saw were rooted in lust, objectified women, and resulted in fear, guilt, and shame. Sheila Wray Gregoire and others were beginning to uncover the reasons why #metoo was rapidly evolving into #churchtoo, but I already knew…
I knew the time had come for me to choose between God and Sex. This book is my story of how I made that choice, and what I discovered along the way that would change my life forever!
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