by Rob Bell
★★★
Relax, folks, this is not a call to worship Yahweh like some kind of fertility idol. It’s just another of Bell’s weird book titles.
I’m a Bell fan, but I confess this wasn’t one of my favorites. If we’re gonna talk about this stuff, well, there are lots of interesting passages in the Bible about sex, sexuality, and the sexes. But Bell ignores all the interesting discussion, and zeroes in on two basic themes:
1. Sex is a reality of life. We’re not animals and we’re not angels. (I’d argue that we’re both, but I’ll save that for another time). The Bible says we’re higher than the animals, and we’re higher than the angels! Sex should not degenerate into animalistic urges, but neither should we pretend we’re sexless beings like angels. It’s a special, if confusing, gift.
2. But don’t do it until you’re ready for marriage. In the Bible, sex was the final, binding act of a marriage. It is not the ceremony that joins two people together forever, it is the carnal act, and this is God’s way.
Bell plays more of the role of a pastor than a teacher in this book, so I found it less interesting than his other works. But maybe it’s just what you’re looking for.
