Our holy, human bodies
To build the Beloved Community, we need to think and talk and act differently about bodies.
The church was the first place that taught me that my body was evil. I remember it distinctly. As wonderful and transformative as my youth group was, it was also a place where I heard almost weekly that my purpose in life was to be in deep relationship with God—and that my body was in the way. Mouth, hands, genitals—these were never described to me as possible pathways to God but only as hindrances, things I needed to control and find a way to dedicate to God.
My youth pastor wasn’t making this up or acting with violent intent. He was reading Paul, who seemed to hate his body—who was always talking about a “thorn in his flesh” and “carnal” this and that and purifying ourselves. I was hearing that sin lives in the body (Rom. 6), that it must be overcome, and that Jesus did it “so you should too.” Add the Fall in Genesis and, well, it was clear to me: the flesh was against God, and our physical bodies were nothing more than a site for spiritual warfare.
The curious teenager in me soaked this up; the eager-to-please teenager was fully on board. But the perpetually horny teenager had some explaining to do. I spent a lot of time feeling guilty. (Did you know a thought was a sin too? Geez.)
