Studies have shown that Coca-Cola, an appealing, satisfying drink has caustic effects such as eating through a nail and being able to remove oil from a driveway. Sex, an appealing, satisfying behavior, which unlike Coke is designed for health and wholeness, when taken to extreme has caustic effects on one's life. Sexuality is a powerful force; it is a pleasurable feast God has provided, but it can also erode and destroy lives. As sexuality is a fundamental life process, sexual compulsivity is exceedingly threatening to all of us. Sexual addiction is a major problem facing, not only the general public, but clergy as well. An additional concept that needs to be grappled with is sexual anorexia and how it plays a part in the addictive process. The church needs to be aware of how these issues threaten the core of the church, how the church has been a contributing factor, and how it can be a redemptive force. This article seeks to address these issues; gaining a basic understanding of what sexual addiction and sexual anorexia are, and how the church, positively and negatively, can have an impact.
"Over the past several decades, our society has grown in its understanding of drug, alcohol and food addictions, but only in recent years have we begun to understand sex addiction" (National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, p. 1). Sex addiction is characterized by people using sex as a mood-altering substance and then discovering they need it in greater or more powerful doses. Addicts are unable to control their behavior, which is debilitating to them and those around them. Addictions permeate every dimension of one's life. In employing the techniques of defense, denial, rationalization, and projection, the sex addict presents a desire for an easy, magical solution as well as an inability and unwillingness to endure discomfort or tolerate anxiety. Sex becomes repetitive in an unmanageable way; it is used to escape feelings, and leads to destructive consequences.