Pretty Girls

     A long time supporter of mine from Kansas took exception to something I said recently. He’s a great guy, and I like him. So I think I better explain myself.

    In a post about an American boy who had left Southern California to go join the Taliban, I said “Most red blooded Americans can’t go too long in The Sand Box before they start missing 4th of July picnics, pretty girls, fast cars, fun music, happy friends, going to the beach, and all the things that fill a free heart with contentment.”

   In response to this my friend from Kansas wrote: “If someone were to tell me that a born again follower of the Lord Jesus Christ made the above comment, I would not believe it. Pure lie, satisfying the lust of the flesh will only bring a fleeting sense of satisfaction and with more lust of the flesh to follow. There is more that could be said about the above captioned statement. However, I thought I would first ask if it was really you who said it?”

   Ah, yes, yes, yes. I said it. And after thinking about it, the only thing I would change is “fast cars” to “fast motorcycles.” 

   As Christians, as believers, as children of The King, our defining attribute is JOY. And it’s not some introspective super-spiritual joy that’s only experienced in our somber meditation on the bright white light that must surround God the Father. Our joy is a tangible, contagious, relatable joy that permeates and colors our mortal lives. It flavors our relationships. It undergirds our work. And it defines out play.

    This is not the lust of the flesh. Far from it. It is the fruit of the Spirit reminding us that just as the spirit was made new, so too the body and this world will one day be made new. The joy that Jesus puts in our hearts right now is a down payment on the joy He will perfect upon His return.

    King David had this joy. So much so that he danced in the streets, and all the pretty girls saw him. Someone busted his chops over it. But it turns out they were wrong, and David was a man after God’s own heart. 

    Knowing my friend from Kansas, I’ll assume that his primary contention was with the “pretty girls” comment. So let’s talk about that.

     I live in a prison where there are no women at all. Does that make this the most pious place on earth? There are no pretty girls in here to cause temptation. So this place must be a bastion of holiness, right? WRONG! This place is an ugly, murderous hell. Because there are no pretty girls in here to temper the men.

     I’ve been to Muslim countries where women are a controlled substance, and pretty girls are a sort of social contraband. They’re kept suppressed and out of sight, and not allowed to mix into society. The religious leaders there treat women the same way the State of Texas treats weed here. And guess what? Every one of those countries is an ugly, murderous hell, just like this prison. And for the same reason.

     What did God say when He was creating the world? Light and darkness He created. And He saw that it was GOOD. Sun, moon, planets and stars, AND IT WAS GOOD. Ocean, sky, land and sea, AND IT WAS GOOD. Plants, grass, trees, fruit and seed, AND IT WAS GOOD. Swarms of fish, flocks of birds, herds of mammals, AND IT WAS GOOD. 

     Then God created man, and said it was NOT good. (Genesis 2:18) Why? Because he was alone. Because he needed a girl by his side. What does that tell you about the vital importance of woman in God’s design for the earth and for humanity?

    Now granted, every man’s had an episode or two with the harlot whose lips drip honey but whose footsteps go down to the grave. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about beautiful beloved women. The wives, and mothers, and daughters, and girlfriends that grace our lives. 

    I wholeheartedly double down on my comment about pretty girls. Not only do pretty girls make this world soft and nice. It’s WAY deeper than that. They themselves are the REASON to make the world soft and nice.

   Human romance teaches us so much about love and how God must love us. We glimpse into our Maker’s heart when we feel the strength of a man’s attraction to a woman, or the power of a woman’s seduction of a man, or the joy a child brings to a family. And all of this starts and ends with pretty girls and the sway they hold over humanity. I have seen it, AND IT IS GOOD

~Schaeffer Cox (7-27-19)