Redeeming PleasureSample

"Mattress Mambo"

God created sex with specific guidelines. The author of Hebrews talks about “the marriage bed.” The Greek word for bed in that verse is koite and often serves as a metaphor for sex in marriage. It’s not just the bed itself but what happens on the bed. We’re not talking about the difference between the bed at a five-star hotel and the bed of that hotel room you got the incredible deal on. That victory is short lived once you climb inside the covers. Instead, this becomes a symbol of something sacred. Today, the idea of a “marriage bed” seems like something you’d see at a museum or on a tour of an ancient culture. But biblically we see God established the intent of sex for a married relationship.

Unfortunately, our society paints the image of a biblical marriage in a dull light. Following scripture means saving yourself sexually for only one person and waiting to have sex with that one person until committed before God in marriage. In the world’s eyes, sex only for marriage drastically reduces the pleasure because people cannot enjoy it as much as they want, whenever they want, and with whomever they want. How could this biblical view compete with the worldly pleasure of sex? Thus, the Christian ideal seems obsolete and outdated since those who follow the world’s view get everything Christians have and more.

But consider this: a married couple who enters their union as virgins will never have to compare their experience to former partners. They will never have to worry about whether they were as good as previous experiences. They only know each other! That is an expectation I’m comfortable with meeting.

Not to mention that vulnerability is a liability for sex outside marriage but a blessing to sex within marriage. A married couple builds on this vulnerability and finds themselves growing closer together in unspeakable ways over the years. The awkward tension of vulnerability leads to intimacy and acceptance.

Intimate sex beats casual sex.