Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:15–17)
THE MEANING OF THE BODY. Ancient cultures saw the body as a discardable container of the soul. Christianity taught, on the contrary, that it was the soul’s integral expression, a crucial part of who we are, and so to fit your bodies together physically should always be part of uniting your lives in every aspect. In 1 Corinthians 6 Paul is saying that it is a monstrous incongruity to activate the “one flesh” apparatus of sex and then not follow through by giving everything else. “Paul . . . here displays a psychological insight into human sexuality which is altogether exceptional by first-century standards . . . he insists that it is an act which . . . engages and expresses the whole personality in such a way as to constitute a unique mode of self-disclosure and self-commitment.”103
Reflection: Modern culture has reverted to the ancient belief that the body is the prison house of the soul and not its integral expression. What are other implications of this view for our understanding of sex and gender?
Prayer: Lord, in this sinful world our bodies are flawed, subject to weakness, and nothing like what they will be in the resurrection. Help me to see my body as the a great gift from you, and help me to honor you in all the ways I treat it and use it. Amen.