SITCOMS AND SEX
I rarely watch television these days except for some sporting
events, but once in a while I enjoy a good comedy, whether that might be a
movie or a sitcom. Unfortunately, in our culture today, the phrase “good comedy”
is an oxymoron. Trying to find a good, clean comedy feels as probable as
winning the lottery. An article in the Gainesville Sun noted that the top four sitcoms
on CBS had 53 sex jokes between them. Let’s break that down a bit. A half hour
sitcom is actually about 22 minutes long minus the commercials. That means on
average these sitcoms had a sex joke every minute and 40 seconds. Now here’s
the kicker—this article is from 2012! I couldn’t even find data from the past
few years. I wonder if sex jokes and sitcoms are so synonymous today that no
one bothers counting. It would by like counting how many news stories are in a
newscast. But so what? Does it matter that sex has been denigrated to sitcom
humor?
DOES GOD ENJOY A GOOD JOKE?
First let’s consider God’s perspective on humor in general
before looking at the impact of denigrating sex to a punchline. I spent some
time meditating on Ephesians 5:3-4 which states, 3But sexual
immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you,
as is proper among saints. 4Let there be
no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but
instead let there be thanksgiving. Verse 4 particularly caused me some
pause. The term translated “crude joking” can mean levity and create the
impression that Christians should never joke around. The KJV translates the
term “jesting.” Now I enjoy a good laugh and a good joke, but does God?
To say God doesn’t endorse laughter would contradict
scripture. Job 8:21 considers laughter a blessing from God, “He will yet
fill your mouth with laughter…” Israel experienced laughter as a result of
God’s restorative grace in Psalm 126:2, “Then our mouth was filled with
laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.” And Ecclesiastes 3:4 informs
us that there is time for everything, including laughter, “a time to laugh
and a time to cry.”
God doesn’t oppose laughter; He endorses healthy, holy
laughter. God Himself even used sarcasm when talking with Job. Job pled his case,
arguing that it didn’t seem fair what he was going through and wanted God to
explain Himself. God countered by noting that Job would not understand all His
ways because He is infinitely wise and Job is not. But God does this with a
little sarcasm when addressing Job in Job 38:19-21, 19“Where is the
way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, 20that you may
take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? 21You know,
for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!”
SEX IS NO JOKE
Humor and laughter aren’t “unholy” acts when used
appropriately. However, Paul does rebuke a certain type of humor in Ephesians 4:4
as context indicates. Paul’s comments regarding filthy speech and coarse joking
immediately follow his warning against “sexual immorality” and “impurity.” I
believe he has in mind making light of the sacred act of sex. I don’t want to
limit Paul’s meaning to only that because the terms he used have a broader meaning.
However, it does seem that Paul’s concern with sexual purity influences his next
comments about the speech of believers.
How do we regard and refer to sex in our speech as
believers?
Sex within the covenant bond of marriage between a biological,
God-defined man and woman is a precious gift from God. This beautiful gift
creates an emotional bond and can result in a literal oneness of a child. The
two become one literally when a new human being is conceived through the God glorifying
act of sex.
Paul infers the sanctified character of sex within the bond
of biblical marriage in I Thessalonians 4:3-5, “For this is the will of God,
your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4that
each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and
honor, 5not
in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.” The only context
that sex is expressed in a sanctified manner is in the holy bond of biblical
marriage.
GIVING THANKS FOR SEX
We should give thanks to God for the beauty and joy of sex
within its proper boundaries. Paul mentions this at the end of verse 4, noting
that instead of crude joking “let there be thanksgiving.” Unfortunately,
our culture has done the opposite. Filthiness and coarse joking are the fuel
for comedy and sitcoms today. Society presents sex as nothing more than an
animalistic act that provides a temporary, euphoric surge of hormones. Why not speak
about it flippantly? There’s nothing sacred about it according to modern society. Current culture feels free
to use sex as a punchline for a quick laugh.
Not only have we diminished sex to a punchline, but we seek
to destroy the miracle of life sex produces. Many today clamor for the right of
women to destroy the child created through the act of sex. Should this surprise
us? When we demean sex into nothing more than breakroom humor and cheap laughs
on sitcoms, it’s no wonder we brush aside the miracle of life this sacred act
creates.
God created Adam and Eve with the amazing power of
procreation through the act of sex. That is mind blowing. A man and a woman have
the power to create a new human being! That is not something to joke about, but reason to give thanks. Sex, within the bond of covenant faithfulness between a husband and
wife, is beautiful and God glorifying. It should be regarded as nothing less. As
sanctified believers in Jesus Christ, we must not only keep the marriage bed
undefiled as Hebrews 13:4 instructs us, but we must keep our tongues undefiled
in our conversations regarding this blessed gift of God between a husband and
wife. Let’s move the conversation about sex out of the sitcoms and back into
the sanctified and give thanks for this beautiful gift between a husband and
wife.
3But
sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among
you, as is proper among saints. 4Let there be
no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but
instead let there be thanksgiving.
Ephesians 5:3-4
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