As a child I sensed that I was a nerd. My parents said it was only because I was a Christian, and that I was suffering for my faith.
Years later I learned that at least part of the problem came from false teachings in the church... especially in the area of sex education.
I'm not advocating loose morals, but simple, honest sex education. Nerds are led to believe that godly people don't have wet dreams, sexual fantasies, or erections. If sex is mentioned at all, it is with such piety that one can hardly admit to practising masturbation without being a candidate for an exorcism.
All of this contradicts the Christian message of grace and truth. Knowing we are forgiven should enable us to be more honest, more confident, more forgiving, and more informed than the rest of the world. But too often the opposite is true.
I decided to trust God to forgive me for whatever might happen as a result of believing this frightening message. And from that point on I made the wonderful discovery that, although I thoroughly enjoyed sex, I am not really interested in having sex with anyone except my wife. One day God spoke very clearly to me: "You can have as much freedom as you have the faith to take," he said. It produced immediate panic. I had imagined that deep within me was a suppressed sex fiend struggling to get out. If I were to believe that message (i.e. that I had freedom to whatever I wanted to do), the worst in me would almost certainly take over. Yet I knew it had come from God. What was I to do?
I am no longer afraid of the "temptation" that sexual frankness might bring. I am not intimidated by people who flaunt their sexual liberation, for I know that there is nothing they have done that I am not free to do. It is just that I have concluded with God's help that nothing can beat the great relationship I have with my wife.
How different this is from the nagging conviction that non-Christians are having all the fun.
I am still different from the non-Christian world; but it is the result of my commitment to truth now, and not a consequence of my commitment to religious lies about sex.
(See also Heavy Burdens and Difficult Yokes.)
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