"Sexy"
05-31-2005
by Amy E. Dixon

Will Smith is inherently likeable. His songs are catchy. His family life is quite admirable, especially considering both he and wife Jada Pinkett-Smith are part of the Hollywood A-List. So, I don’t mean to pick on him specifically here, but as I recently listened to his single “Switch,” I wondered about the term “sexy.” Here’s the lyric, (courtesy of WillSmith.com):

 There’s something sexy about a girl on the floor
 All her friends around her
 I mean real clean
 I ain’t gotta touch or nothin’
 It ain’t like I like it chick on chick or something

Okay, that may "sound" like a harmless statement. He’s basically trying to say he’s an honorable man who just enjoys watching girls dance at the club.

I have heard the word “sexy” used to describe a great many things, so I wanted to be sure, considering my prudish nature, I hadn’t just jumped to the worst possible definition. I looked up “sexy” at Dictionary.com.

sexy adj 1: marked by or tending to arouse sexual desire or interest; "feeling sexy"; "sexy clothes"; "sexy poses"; "a sexy book"; "sexy jokes" 2: exciting sexual desire [syn: aphrodisiac, aphrodisiacal]

Just as I thought, the term “sexy” directly applies to an interest in sex. I suspect, though, that the term has been watered down by regular use, probably to mean “cool” or “interesting.” There are a million slang words for that.

Or have we just been watered down to its meaning by accepting its use as such?

Though I appreciate the sanctity of the English language, I’m not talking about semantics in this case. I’m much more interested in the purity of mind and our desensitization towards all things related to sex. To define so many things as “sexy,” doesn’t that belittle that which is actually “sexy?” According to the definition, and well-understood Biblical principles, for Christians the descriptor “sexy” should only apply to a spouse.

 “Therefore put to death your members which are on earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” (Col 3:6 NKJV)

We are to set our minds on things of heaven, not because it is law, but because it honors God and the grace through which he changes our daily lives. To blatantly ignore the call for purer living is not only to dishonor our faith, but also to walk major steps towards temptation. The book of James tells us in this way we establish our own tempters.

“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:13-15 NKJV)

I’d say a married man watching a sexy girl on the dance floor is tempting fate, and is in danger of being drawn away by his own desires!  And a girl acting sexy on the dance floor is inviting the conception of her own (and others’) desires just the same. So, I’d rather err on the side of caution when it comes to recognizing things as “sexy.” There’s no harmless statement to be made about it; “sexy” relates to sex, and it belongs within the covenant of a marriage.