Recreational Sex and Woodworking

This post is intended for adults and is not suitable for children.

We were created as sexual beings. Sex is a critical feature of who and what we are. Physically, it is determined at conception and it influences us every day, possibly every minute of our lives. We can try to ignore or deny it. We can try to manipulate it. We can enjoy it………or we can go to war over it. We can use it as it was intended……..or we can abuse it.

The division of humankind into men and women happened very early. It was clearly a key part of God’s plan. The sexes are physically distinct……they are functionally distinct……..but they are also emotionally and psychologically distinct. “Men are from Mars….. Women are from Venus”. We compliment each other. Each sex fills a giant void in the other. In a word, we strengthen each other. A well matched man and woman are stronger than 2 well matched men or 2 well matched women. It is not my intention to dive into the entire LGBT argument today……..it is far too big of a conversation and I will come back to it someday……maybe when I’m a little stronger and smarter.

Today, I want to address sex globally. The Bible spends a great deal of ink on the subject of sex. Sex and money are arguably the most commonly discussed topics in the Bible. Sex is clearly very important to God. He could very easily have created us as asexual beings. When we needed or wanted a child, we could just “bud” one off of our back, like a Hydra. Simple, effective, no social complications, no STDs to worry about. There would be no sexual harassment, no gender wage gap, no glass ceiling. So……why sex? You could say that it’s important to keep the gene pool stirred up. But, I believe that God made sex, the mandatory blending of two unlike people, because he knew it would strengthen us and because he knew that we would be happier that way.

Sex is designed to grow our society, but also to improve the quality of our individual lives. Sex is a tool……..an extremely powerful tool.

I’m a woodworker, I have a shop full of tools, just ask my wife. Some are simple and limited……..like my screwdriver. Others are extremely powerful…….like my tablesaw. As a general rule, the more powerful the tool is, the more dangerous it is. I will never cut off a hand with my screwdriver; but, I could do it in a heartbeat with my tablesaw. So…….there are rules. The rules are there to make my work more effective, to make it more enjoyable, but, primarily, to protect me from my tools. The more powerful the tool, the more numerous the rules. The more powerful the tool, the more restrictive the rules. The more powerful the tool the more horrific the consequences of breaking the rules. The rules are not arbitrary. The rules arise from the nature of the tool. I cannot negotiate with them. I cannot redefine my way around them. If I ignore a rule, because I don’t like it, that changes nothing. The consequences don’t go away.

There are rules in the Bible that cover the use of the tool that is sex. There are actually quite a few. The key one, however, can be summed up in one line:

Sex rule #1: Sex is for husbands and wives.

Anything outside of this is recreational sex…….and recreational sex…….while it is great fun……… is dangerous. Sex rule #1 is there to protect you from the dangers of recreational sex. It is not there to ruin your fun. It is a loving father trying to save you from pain.

So………if you:

Run a board into the table saw from the wrong side> kickback> your hand getting pulled into the blade> amputation> trying to get by with a stump instead of a hand for the rest of your life.

Engage in recreational sex> unwanted pregnancy> abortion> killing your daughter…….. possibly the only child you will ever have.

Sex rule #1: Sex is for husbands and wives.

An annoying rule……..it will keep you from having some fun……it will also keep you from getting herpes or aids……..it will also keep you from having to decide someday whether or not to kill your child.

I’m 66 years old…….you will have to trust me on this…….if you restrict sex to your husband or your wife………when you are older than dirt and look back, you will have missed out on nothing.

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Moses, NIV

“It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman .” But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman with her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.

Paul, NIV

Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

Paul, NIV