There are the poor saints struggling under the new temptations all around them and in their pockets, who need to be encouraged not to return to their vomit. And there are those insidious or misguided church leaders, who would have the church approve of what God has clearly labelled evil. There is a deep irony when liberal Christians in the Church of England accuse the conservative church of talking about sex too much.

It is often claimed that evangelicals are obsessed with sex. And not in the good way. I don’t think those who make such comments are complimenting us on our high libido, sex drive, or how good we are in bed. Rather, they’re mocking us for our out-of-date, Victorian fear of sex and sexuality. For our constant attempts to place boundaries around acceptable sexual practice. For the fact that our churches preach against homosexuality and sex outside of marriage. ‘Why do evangelicals concern themselves so much with what’s going on in people’s bedrooms?’, they ask. ‘Don’t they know there are bigger issues at hand? Wars in the Middle-East? Homelessness on our door? Our greedy, materialistic, worldly western culture?’. We’re seen as those who have lost all sense of perspective, banging on about an issue that, even if it does matter, is surely not as important as those issues that are actually causing death, destruction, pain and poverty.

Even from within evangelical circles, I’ve heard complaints that evangelicals sometimes act as if all purity is sexual purity. As soon as a seminar or Bible passage on ‘holiness’ or ‘purity’ comes up, rest assured this is really just a Trojan Horse to discuss sex, lust and pornography. Are there not other, equally important areas of holiness and purity to focus on as well?

Now, one might think the obvious defence to such accusations would be to deny them. ‘Of course we care about other forms of godliness.’ ‘Of course we care about wars and poverty.’ ‘Actually, our churches talk about lots of things that aren’t sex.’

In most cases this would be completely true, and a fair defence to make. But that’s not what I’m going to argue. Instead, I want to double down on these accusations. I want to say, ‘Yes, we do talk about sex a lot. And we’re right to.’ Now that’s not to say that all of the above critiques are without merit. It is a shame that holiness and purity at times seem to mean little more than not watching porn. But that’s not for this post. Instead, I want to lay out why it makes perfect sense that churches and Christians who are alert to reality talk a lot about sex.

Sex is Natural

Even under an atheistic or evolutionary world-view, sex is the cornerstone of the natural world. Watch any David Attenborough documentary, and you soon realise that basically all animal adaptations are geared towards defence against predators, being able to hunt prey, and being able to attract a mate. Food, sex, survival. This is the stuff of life. The only way the world came to be full of life is through sex. Sex plays an absolutely vital part in all of natural life.

Sex is Biblical

And this is no less true under a proper Christian worldview. Genesis 1 and 2 don’t highlight much about human activity – once again food, work, sex and marriage make the cut as the absolute fundamentals of human life. Humans are tasked to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it. Sex is there from the start, as part of God’s positive vision for humanity. It’s a key part of the created order, made with a purpose in mind. The Bible talks about sex a lot.

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