A famous Hollywood producer is exposed for inappropriate behavior, leading to an avalanche of accusers coming forward.

A local police chief is caught soliciting an underage girl in a sting operation.

A high school teacher is jailed after violating the terms of her parole after being convicted for having a relationship with an underage student.

The wife of a prominent official falsely accuses her husband’s chief of staff of inappropriate advances, sending him to prison.

These stories sound like the news from the last few months. Every story is about sexual desire gone wrong. Every situation involves a person in a position of power using that position to attempt to satisfy an unhealthy desire. But the last one is actually the ancient story of Potiphar’s wife and Joseph from Genesis 39.

What’s going on?

The idea that a Bible story, thousands of years old, could be so relevant to what’s happening today ought to give us a clue. As great as it is that victims are now finding the courage to come forward, the real problem will take more than a momentary catharsis to overcome.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to try to address the deeper issues in our preaching. The answers don’t lend themselves to a blog entry, but I think the issue is something like this: We buy into the lie that “sex is just sex;” an appetite like any other to be satisfied. It’s not. Sex is actually a gift from God that leads a husband and wife into an intimate relationship, one that points to the relationship between human beings and God.

When we make sex an end in itself, it’s not a great leap to justify doing awful things to get what we want.