Movies and TV did a weird thing. They began portraying human beings as complete animals. You’ve seen it. A man runs into a woman on the street. That Man asks that woman to have coffee. Somehow this was an innuendo for something more and they slept together. They did this for a while and one of them accidentally uttered the phrase, “I love you” and everything was completely awkward. Having sex was just a way for two people to indulge in their animal appetites and this had to be done long before any real feelings were had between the two people. They portray people as being animals who just have to fulfill these biological urges.
But it’s not as if media has outpaced the culture concerning animal appetites. Time and time again face-to-face conversations reveal that people have bought into this way of thinking. It sort of crept in on us, but now hits us in the face. In the 1990s Bible teachers all over the Western World misunderstood what was happening in our culture. They thought people were just doing whatever would make them feel good. While this was true, it didn’t go far enough. People were not actually being taught, “if it feels good, do it.” It was, “You are an animal with appetites and uncontrollable urges. If you have the urge that means you must do it.” This advice was tinged with caution as the PE teacher taught a class how to put on a condom. It should also be noted that the culture was not yet showing their full hand. It is now on full display. Television and movies just depict what kids are taught about themselves in school and elsewhere: “You are an animal with urges, just wear protection.”
What a horribly undignified thing to say to people!
What a horribly undignified view of people!
What an incredibly old and horrible indignity!
The Filthy Animals of Yesteryear
This attitude toward desires is not new, it is quite old. Paul wrote a letter to the Church at Corinth in either 53 or 54 AD. And shockingly, the urges were the same. After talking about a few different sins that plagued the Corinthian Church and before talking about other sins that plagued the Corinthian Church Paul talked about fornication. (Fornication is not a word used often anymore, but I’m trying to bring it back and make it cool again.) The Corinthians would say a phrase to defend chasing after the fulfillment of their own biological/animal urges, “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food.” (1 Corinthians 6:13a ESV) They soothed their guilty consciences into being okay with fornication by equating it with the bodily urge to eat food almost 2,000 years before a PE teacher was saying the same thing and telling the boys to wear a condom. And Paul responded as fiercely as we should.
His response was short and rather pungent to the modern nose. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”–and God will destroy both one and the other.” (1 Corinthians 6:13 ESV) A little context helps to understand what Paul means by “destroy”, and this is where the pungence lies. In verses 9-11 Paul was just stating that the “sexually immoral” would not “inherit the kingdom of God”. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) Sexually immoral is another way of saying, fornicator. Not “inherit the kingdom of God” is another way of saying that these people will be cast into Hell away from God forever. And the pungent smell in the modern nose happens when you understand that everything the culture has taught you about being mastered by your animal appetites in the bedroom will lead to your destruction.
Don’t be Mastered by Your Appetites, be Mastered by Christ
I expect animals to throw poop at each other, but when people start doing it…then it’s newsworthy. Here is my point. You have more dignity than an animal fulfilling their every urge. “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” (1 Corinthians 6:13 ESV) We were made to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We were not made to fulfill every appetite we have as if we were an animal who had no control over their bodies. We were made for the Lord.
If you are not a Christian or are not attending church somewhere, this is where I plead with you to flee to Christ. The ways of this world are headed toward ruin, and He is our only hope. God, the Creator, saw what a terrible mess we were in and gave us the remedy for our malady. He sent His Son to live a perfect life, die on a cross and rise from the dead. In this, He completed and achieved, perfectly and for all time, the only work needed for our salvation. Flee to Him. Trust in Christ. He took upon Himself the wrath your sin deserved and rose from the dead three days later. Turn from ruling your own life and trust in the Savior. And it is in Christ that you find forgiveness for this sin and every other sin you’ve ever committed. In Him you have forgiveness. That’s the best news. If you are not attending a local church then you need to go and find a good one. Do it, for you were meant for more than just going out and fulfilling your every appetite. That will only leave you feeling empty and used because sin is a cancer that eats away at your soul and it will not stop until it kills you both body and soul. (James 1:15-16) Flee to Christ and be mastered by Him and only Him.
And this is Paul’s point. Is it not? Paul already stated, “I will not be dominated by anything.” (1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV) The idea that the desire to fornicate would master a person was an idea that Paul was not going to play around with. He would not be dominated by it and he expected the same of other believers. This is not what your body is for. Sex has a God-honoring and very satisfying time and place, within the confines of marriage. The urge to go outside of that boundary is not something that should dominate us, but we should be dominated by Christ.
Then, with brilliant use of mockery Paul brings his point home. After saying the Corinthian phrase that was used to excuse fornication: “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food” (1 Corinthians 6:13ESV), he said, “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” (1 Corinthians 6:13 ESV) Paul was a clever guy, wasn’t he? He just fixed their phrase. Your body is not made to just fill animal cravings. Your body was made for the Lord. That is why he ends this discussion by saying, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19b-20 ESV) The lusts of the flesh are not to dominate our souls, Christ is. Christians were brought into the family of God with the price of Christ’s blood. Now, why would you ever consider joining yourself in an unholy union? (1 Corinthians 6:15-16 ESV)
Concluding Thoughts
Humans are not animals. Our cravings do have a purpose and are to be fulfilled within the God-ordained boundaries. Food is to be enjoyed, but we should not always be feasting. Recreation is to be enjoyed, but we should not always be playing. Sex is to be enjoyed, but we should not be having sex with anyone and everyone we have the biological urge to procreate with. (That type of person gets locked in prison. (I should also note that the memes have informed me that a person like that did not kill himself.) We are not a bundle of biological urges needing to be filled. We are humans. We have dignity. We were made for Christ, not just fulfilling animal urges.
R. Dwain Minor
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