My sister-in-law Jen bought me a copy of Rob Bell’s Sex God for Christmas, apparently Laurie may have given her a hint or two ;-).
I’m loving it!
I know some people who are turned off by the title, turned off by the table of contents and turned off by the idea of Christians selling books about sex, talking about sex or even thinking about sex.
Oh well. Don’t buy the book then. But for those of you who don’t judge a book by it’s cover or title, here’s a summary from Publisher’s Weekly:
Bell raises the bar with this evocative follow-up to last year’s bestseller Velvet Elvis. “Is sex a picture of heaven?” he wonders. It’s all about God and sex and heaven, he says: “…they’re connected. And they can’t be separated. Where the one is you will always find the other.” Bell’s book isn’t a sex manual, an exploration of the differences between men and women or a marriage how-to, though all of that is here. Instead, it’s the story of God becoming human, of humans mirroring God and love made manifest in the chaos of our humanity. Sex God is about relationships revealed in a way that elevates the human condition and offers hope to those whose relationships are wounded. In Bell’s spare, somewhat oblique style, he addresses lust, respect, denial, risk, acceptance and more. His love for God and the Bible is clear, as is his ability to ask probing questions and offer answers that make readers think deeply about their own lives. He does a fine job using the Bible and real life to show that our physical relationships are really about spiritual relationships. This book joyfully ties, and then tightens, the knot between God and humankind.
I’m a little more than halfway through the book and really want to comment on it now, but I think I’ll wait till I finish it up. But let me leave you with this GREAT quote from chapter one, God wears lipstick:
How you treat the creation reflects how you feel about the creator.
…When Jesus speaks of loving our neighbor, it isn’t just for our neighbor’s sake. If we don’t love our neighbor, something happens to us.
Share love.
