Most of us likely have a negative reaction to the word eroticism. But God created eros, and He allures us to eroticism. Discovering this and tapping into it is a fundamental piece of healing from sexual brokenness.
Eroticism Defined
Before we go any further, let me define what I’m talking about.
Have you ever stopped to think about how sex was God’s idea? If you’re reading this, chances are likely that you find yourself struggling with sexual sin or addiction of some kind. Sex probably feels like a problem to you and not a blessing. You may have even thought to yourself, “If only I wasn’t so sexual, I wouldn’t be having these issues.”
But God designed mankind. He created sex as the process by which humans (and other beings) reproduce themselves. And He designed sex to be pleasurable.
Erotic pleasure was His idea.
Instead of thinking of erotic as a negative rating on a movie, a warning that it will involve scenes that might elicit feelings of sexual arousal, we ought to think of erotic as a way of describing that gloriously good and beautiful experience two lovers have when they come together in sexual intimacy as God designed.
Eros comes from the Greek language. Ancient Greeks used this word in reference to the power of sexual love. They understood eros to be what ignited creative activity. They tell a story of how in the beginning there was nothing. No world. No material of any kind. But everything changed when eros appeared. Mountains rose, rivers flowed, and colorful flowers bloomed, transforming the entire landscape.
In Greek mythology, eros created. That’s where this word originates. Eros has to do with a creative force capable of transforming the world.
Now, we understand Yahweh created all things (Gen 1-2). Not only did He create matter and formed the world, He also created the energies within the matter. Yahweh created that which the Greeks called eros.
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While the enemy of Yahweh subverts eros by offering immediate release of the tension we feel inside ourselves, Yahweh designed eros to be the thing that fuels and motivates us to go out into the world and create things that reflect his goodness and beauty. The enemy’s subversion of eros leads to harmful habits. This may cause guilt because we are living in a way that we know to be contrary to how Yahweh designed us to live.
However, eros pursued as Yahweh designed brings about life and fulfillment.
It transforms the world because we are adding to it things that reflect the goodness and beauty of Yahweh.
Author and psychologist, Jay Stringer, put it this way:
Eros, when properly pursued, is one of the primary ways God allures us to redemption. He is not holding our sexual sins against us, waiting for our cultural downfall. Rather, he is doing what he always does: offering us a way out of slavery through inviting us to a land we have longed for but have yet to find. Through eros, God is alluring us to be far more sexual than we could have ever conceived at the height of our unwanted sexual behavior.
(Unwanted, p. 166)
While you may think you’re too addicted to erotic pleasure and that’s what is causing your sexual sin, it’s likely that you’re actually just wanting to get rid of the feelings of tension within yourself. You want to feel better right now.
It’s likely that you’re not addicted enough to true eros: energy that leads you to creative transformation.
Click here to continue reading about encounters with eros and pursing eros in everyday life.
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