#323: Bye, Awkward Side Hugs! Getting Over Our Fear of Opposite-Sex Friendships

Java with Juli - Making Sense of God and Sex

Authentic Intimacy®

Relationships, Society & Culture, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.9 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 August 2020

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Was Jesus a bit aloof with Martha and Mary because He didn’t want them to think there was, you know, “chemistry”? Did He give Mary Magdalene side hugs? We don’t actually know the answers to these questions, of course, but if we look at the way Jesus had intimate interactions with both men and women in the Gospels, we think not. In our churches, however, we’ve become so uncomfortable with our bodies, with sexuality, and with male/female relationships, it’s almost like we don’t know how to be friends with the opposite sex at all—especially if you’re married! In this episode, Juli talks with author Bronwyn Lea about getting over our fear and awkwardness and teaching men and women how to build intimate, non-romantic, and life-giving relationships.

Guest: Bronwyn Lea

Show notes:

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey friends, this is Julie Slattery, and you're listening to Java with Julie.
0:07.5	This podcast is a production of authentic intimacy, a ministry dedicated to reclaiming God's
0:13.0	design for sexuality.
0:14.7	I'm so glad that you've joined me because I have a great conversation for you today.
0:18.8	So get your coffee and settle in.
0:23.2	My guest is Bronwyn Lee.
0:28.8	Bronwyn is the author of the book Beyond Awkward Sidehugs, Living as Christian Brothers and Sisters in a sex crazed world. Now, if you've ever been to church, especially as a single Christian,
0:34.6	you're probably familiar with what she's calling an awkward side hug.
0:38.2	As Christians, we sort of have this fear that touch and intimacy are going to lead to sexual
0:42.5	feelings. So we came up with this side hug. It's apparently a way to keep temptation and really
0:48.9	people at arm's length, so to speak. But the problem is it doesn't really fit in with the way that Jesus taught
0:55.1	us to treat each other as brother and sister. And that's why I love the work that Bronwyn is doing.
1:00.7	She's challenging Christians to move beyond the fear of sexuality and look more at the example
1:05.7	that Jesus gave us, which is to treat each other as a family as brothers and sisters living in intimate
1:11.5	life-giving communities with one another.
1:14.3	Today you'll hear Bronwyn and I talk about why we equate sexuality with intimacy and why that's
1:20.1	a problem, how Jesus modeled relationships with people of the opposite gender that were
1:25.2	intimate but not romantic, and how we can do a better
1:28.2	job of recognizing and integrating our single brothers and sisters as fully mature Christians,
1:33.8	fit for leadership in the body of Christ.
1:36.4	We'll link to Bronwyn's book in our show notes and details about our upcoming digital
1:41.0	conference, Reclaim 2.0, at Authentimacy.com.
	...

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