Honoring the Body

After the stock market dumped, David Letterman frequently introduced his nightly talk show by asking the audience, “How’s it goin’? Got any money? Of course not! Nobody has any money!”

A broader question might be, “How are you keeping up with the world these days?” The reality we live with is that change comes at us quickly. We want to live in a world where change can be controlled and is predictable – thus "Change!" - the new mantra of the Democrat party.

But some things, like technology, change so quickly we can hardly keep up. I recently joined “Facebook” and after three days felt inundated with messages on my “Wall.” I asked a friend, “How do I get rid of all this stuff people are posting?” He replied, “You don’t. That’s the point!” I’m a bit slow – I have trouble staying in step with my own computer. And who could have anticipated such a rapid transformation in the economic situation? As one investor put it, “We fell off a cliff.”

How to cope? How to live as a Christian in a rapidly changing environment? Dorothy Bass, author of a series on Christian Practices, writes, “The changes that are sweeping the world unsettle life at its most basic levels…”(1) She goes on to say that Christian practices address fundamental needs through concrete actions.

They draw on traditions that are Biblically based, and they’re meant to help us strengthen the ways in which we live. Earlier this year we began a monthly Saturday study group in our church focusing on these practices. We started these sessions with encouragement by the Lilly Foundation as part of Together in Ministry, an initiative intended to foster connections between clergy and laity. As a beginning point we asked what it means to have a passionate spirituality, and how we can put that spirituality into practice on a daily basis.

One of our first discussions focused on one way of living our faith: by honoring the body. The conversation touched on several themes. What does it mean to be created in the image of God? What examples do we have of Jesus honoring the physical reality of the human body? He healed those who were sick, emphasizing good health, and he insisted on washing the feet of his disciples.

Further, in what ways did his followers honor the body of Jesus? The story of the woman who anointed his feet with oil came to mind, as did the description of the women going to the tomb to finish preparing his body for burial.

We also asked, “How does our baptism speak to the importance of physical, as well as spiritual, renewal?” Immersion symbolizes cleansing as well as being raised to new life.
Another pressing question that grew out of our discussion was, “In a world that often dishonors the human body, how do we teach our young people about its sacredness? Bodies are socially devalued in myriad ways. Sex is used to sell everything from clothing to cars, hamburgers to hair restorers. Many of our “heroes,” actors and athletes, treat marriage like a dating game. To say that the body is sacred instead of a tool used to gain immediate gratuity flies in the face of our culture.

According to statistics on spousal abuse, one-third to one-half of adult women have been abused by a spouse or significant other. (2) Human trafficking is a major concern for Christians seeking to do mission work, both here and abroad. The current mission focus of American Baptist Women is “Breaking the Chains,” and efforts to do precisely that are underwritten in several locales in Thailand (see http://www.internationalministries.net/missionaries/109).

Our youth encounter the devaluation of bodies every day. Sex is frequently viewed as a way to win approval and acceptance by young girls, and a way to gain a reputation for being strong and masculine by boys. Youthful clothing fashions stoke the fires, and abortion is readily available if one slips up.

This sense that our own bodies, and the bodies of others, can be used to gain social or financial advantage is exceedingly remote from Biblical teachings:

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body (1 Corinthians 6:19-20);” “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life (Romans 6:13);” and ultimately Jesus’ example in the Upper Room: “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me (Luke 22:19).”

The greatest mistake we as parents, or as a church, can make is to let our kids figure it out for themselves. Granted, how to best teach them about sexuality and honoring the body isn’t always clear. One possibility is to have regular discussions with our youth, both at home and in youth group, about self-respect, and its flip-side, devaluation. Another approach is to explore ways of maintaining physical and moral health with them, encouraging the setting of boundaries when it comes to premarital intimacy.

A larger challenge is how to move from a small group discussion about honoring the body to a commitment to cultural change in the church. In our group discussions we’re in the process of mulling over suggestions for implementation, wondering how best to communicate what we’ve learned. Our hope is that the desire to practice the faith in more meaningful ways will find fertile ground among our fellow congregants. If you have an interest in furthering Christian Practices, a helpful resource can be found at http://www.practicingourfaith.org/

1 Bass, Dorothy C. Practicing Our Faith. 1997: Jossey-Bass, p. 6.
2 “Statistics on Spousal Abuse,” www.ezinearticles.com/?Statistics-on-Spousal-Abuse&id=1578447