{"id":35239,"date":"2024-01-02T12:06:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-02T12:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/gods-purpose-for-sex-spoon-metaphor\/"},"modified":"2024-01-02T12:06:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T12:06:00","slug":"gods-purpose-for-sex-spoon-metaphor","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/gods-purpose-for-sex-spoon-metaphor\/","title":{"rendered":"God\u2019s Purpose for Sex: A Spoon Metaphor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Christian writer and pastor Sam Allberry tells the story of a friend who has a very bizarre spoon in his sugar bowl. It is a bit larger than a teaspoon, but it has a big hole in the middle, so it is unable to carry sugar, salt, cocoa, or pretty much anything for which you would need a teaspoon.<\/p>\n\n<p>When he has people round, he enjoys watching them try to work out how to use it, and whether they are doing something wrong. Eventually he reveals that it&rsquo;s an olive spoon, and that it is meant to have a hole in it so that you can drain the liquid as you lift the olive to your mouth.<\/p>\n\n<p>Allberry relates this story to our sexuality. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t make sense of the way the spoon is without understanding what it&rsquo;s for.&rdquo; And then comes the punchline: &ldquo;It is true of my friend&rsquo;s olive spoon and it is true of our sexuality.&rdquo; In other words, you can&rsquo;t understand God&rsquo;s biblical commandments for sex until you know God&rsquo;s design for sex.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[446],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3640,4196,4425,4427,4489,4856,4858,4955,4959,4962,5068,5270,5285],"tax_ctp_topics":[390],"class_list":["post-35239","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-commitment","tax_ctp_tags-husband","tax_ctp_tags-marriage","tax_ctp_tags-marriage-sex","tax_ctp_tags-monogamy","tax_ctp_tags-romance","tax_ctp_tags-romantic-love","tax_ctp_tags-sex","tax_ctp_tags-sexual-morality","tax_ctp_tags-sexuality","tax_ctp_tags-spouse","tax_ctp_tags-weddings","tax_ctp_tags-wives"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>God\u2019s Purpose for Sex: A Spoon Metaphor - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/gods-purpose-for-sex-spoon-metaphor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God\u2019s Purpose for Sex: A Spoon Metaphor - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christian writer and pastor Sam Allberry tells the story of a friend who has a very bizarre spoon in his sugar bowl. 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