An Antidote To Sexual Anxieties

Deeply entrenched prudery has made sexuality seem like a forbidden subject to many Americans, but the irrational fixation on a handful of comparatively trivial sexual sins has kept the church as a whole in fear of nonsinful sexual impulses and behaviors.  One consequence is that nonsexual behaviors and clothing (aka, all types of clothing [1]) might be universally or at least largely perceived as sexual, with real or perceived sexual connotations seen as vile rebellion against God's wishes.  Christians usually misdefine lust as sexual attraction or excitement and thus feel trapped when a desire to be righteous does not make them asexual beings--after all, sexual feelings and attractions are not themselves sinful!

Even Christians that have shed the sexual legalism of the evangelical world, a false ideology which has seemingly been present in some form since the beginning of Christianity, can find themselves struggling to feel at peace with their sexualities after they no longer believe unbiblical ideas about sexual morality.  Even worse, those who adhere to sexual legalism may feel like they have committed some sort of cosmic treason against God simply by letting themselves dwell on sexual attraction to the opposite gender even though God himself created human sexuality.

For Christians that fall in both categories, directly exposing themselves to the human body can be an instrumental part of emotionally accepting their sexualities, as becoming accustomed to the nonsexuality of the body while not panicking if sexual attraction occasionally surfaces is a vital experience.  There is nothing to fear if there is no sexual attraction or arousal when men and women see each other's bodies; there is nothing to fear if there is sexual attraction and physiological arousal when men and women see each others bodies.  Some people may not be able to fully affirm this beyond intellectual recognition until they let themselves experience it.

One of the best things that a Christian man or woman struggling with controlling how they act upon their sexual attractions is experiencing the nonsexual nature of the human body more directly.  It might seem counterproductive to some, but the kind of person who would regard exposure to the human body as problematic for their personal self-control is exactly the kind of person who needs to become familiar with the sight and thought of the opposite gender's body.  Fighting the urge to look at and contemplate God's ultimate physical creation does not help anyone develop self-control.

The experience of seeing the human body in nonsexual contexts can greatly facilitate the psychological transformation of someone who was once immersed in a culture of legalism.  Acknowledging, viewing, and appreciating the human body can be the antidote to the emotional and spiritual difficulties that come from the heresy of those who think the Bible prescribes prudery.  With a rational understanding of both sexuality and their own selves, anyone who has been deeply affected by sexual legalism might feel free to both bask in their sexual attractions to the opposite gender (some members of them) and exalt the nonsexual sensuality of the human body without fear of sinning.

[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/08/lingerie-is-not-sexual.html