Who am I?

Perhaps "Charlotte Simmons" is not the correct answer to that question, but in many ways I can identify with her world. Here is a journal entry written in response to Tom Wolfe's novel:

Tom Wolfe is nothing short of a cultural genius. In so many words he has encapsulated the sacramental tension of being both an embodied human and a temple of the Lord’s presence in an environment that is flamboyantly and shamelessly sexualized. Everything is sexual, and in a sense it should be if sexuality is a gift from God (a good thing). However, the sheer debasement of our most human qualities can only suggest that we view ourselves not as the recipients of a gift, around which is care, concern and restriction, but rather as animals of entitlement who are sexual only out of necessity and therefore deserve to be satisfied in the moment of desire.

One of the most powerful tools that Wolfe uses to establish a context for the novel is the interlacing of lyrics to popular rap songs into the prose—not unlike Shakespeare who often introduced music into his plays, Wolfe is driving home the point that even the subtext of this culture is sexualized. I often am troubled by the ease with which I, a co-heir with Christ in the Kingdom of God, dance and sing to the lyrics of songs that glorify Satan’s effect on God’s gift. Is this not a form of a distorted worship? Did David not sing and dance before God? What do we worship when we callously sing words which hold broken things in the highest esteem.

Although thus far Wolfe has not offered any sort of redemptive resolution, I am struck by how this man, who does not profess faith, has so accurately described Sin and its ramifications. Unlike Sex in the City, another attempt at cultural analysis, I am Charlotte Simmons does not offer a single glamorous look at life on this college campus. Even the arrogance, laziness, and contempt for knowledge are brought to light. The criticism is thorough and fair.

Our reading over the past few weeks is inspiring a paradigm shift in my understanding of sexuality. After coming through college and adolescent life, I felt that the only option I had to be faithful to the Lord was to reject and suppress sexuality until due time. I’m gaining a far more complete perspective that honestly looks at the culture we have created and offers more than an overly simplified diagnosis for change. I feel inspired to love my God more and more as I begin to see how he intended for things to be rather than simply rejecting how they are.