Sex Is for Men, Romance for women . . .

That is if you write romance for the CBA. Romance best not be linked to sex or portrayed as leading to a sexual conclusion if you happen to write in the romance genre for Christian fiction.

The interesting irony in this proclamation is you can exhibit both a world's-eye-view and a godly view of sexual encounters if you write in a different genre. Go figure. The most current example of this appears in the thriller Singularity by Steven James. I won't tell you what a robotic appendage can do, and neither does Steven in graphic terms, but left to our imaginations . . . well, let's just say the images are definitely sexual. In this same novel there are hookers, upper echelon call girls, and a genuinely seamy side to Solomon the pimp's lair.

But in romance novels? Not a chance. Reviewed here, Becky Wade's first CBA novel (she wrote for the general market initially) elicited cries of outrage because of a few words she used. Written with complete authenticity, it's the way a real romance novel should be written. Her second novel arrived with toned down language (as if it needed to be) and subdued romantic elements. Too bad.

So, romance is for women, but the romance I've found in most CBA novels is thin, cliché, and shallow. It fails to deal with the sexual attraction innate in romance. It fails to deliver the reality of sexual challenges that romance presents. For Christians who desire to keep themselves pure for their marriage partner, it doesn't come without trials. For the worldly men, women, and young people who are slaves to their hormones and desires, sexual attraction/romance can lead to all kinds of disappointments and lack of fulfillment. But yet, in most Christian novels these terrifically important issues are bypassed for the sake of pseudo or incomplete romance.

Thus the title of this post . . .

Father, you gave us sex. You deemed it good. You made commitment necessary for true enjoyment. Your ways are higher – and far more satisfying. If only people knew . . . In the Name of Jesus, Amen.