The Great Sex Rescue

Pastor’s Bookshelf - Welcome to my bookshelf! Each month I will discuss a recent book that I’ve finished.

This month I’d like to talk about The Great Sex Rescue by Sheila Wray Gregoire

I’ll admit I’m a bit torn when I recommend this book. On the one hand – it is FANTASTIC. It is incredibly useful, and I think extremely needed in the church world. On the other hand – it’s about sex, and very explicitly so. If it was a film, it would probably receive a PG-13 rating. With the understanding that it IS a book about sex, and it is not a shy book – I do highly recommend it. I believe it can dramatically increase the quality of the sex lives of married people in our congregation, it can create healthy expectations for those who hope to be married one day, and can help those committed to single-ness and celibacy understand what their married friends might be going through.

The subtitle of the book is “the lies you’ve been taught and how to recover what God intended” – and Sheila and her co-authors (Joanna and Rebecca) spend a good deal of time debunking false teachings that come from other religious resources on sex and a healthy marriage life. Not only is it full of important things for us to learn, they also can guide you through some unhelpful (and maybe even harmful) teachings you might need to UN-learn as well.

I listened to the book on audiobook, but about halfway through I realized I wanted to purchase the physical copy as well. There are helpful charts, and workbook style questions for couples to work through together. I recommend couples who are interested, read this book together, and work together on the study questions at the end.

The church is long overdue for some healthy, comprehensive teachings on what sex can look like in a Jesus loving, committed marriage – and this book is a great starting point.