![]() ![]() At worst, what was intended as a praise of his wife may well be a punch to hearers struggling with abuse, body-shame, loneliness, or their own sexuality. ![]() ![]() A Christian referring to his wife as “smokin’ hot”-with all the female-sexuality-is-the-prize baggage the term carries-runs the risk of triggering a host of problems for his hearers in a culture where women are seen more as prizes than people. Praising one’s spouse as beautiful could refer to both inner and outer beauty, but “smokin’ hot” carries a very specific, sexual undertone. That’s not to say we shouldn’t appreciate beauty, but the wording and emphasis matter. Our culture says: “The most important thing about you is your good looks.” Our Creator says: “The most important thing about you is looking like Jesus.” As Christ-followers, we need to actively identify and resist a worldview that sees women and sex as commodities: Women should be welcomed as sisters, not feared as temptresses. Scripture teaches that women are gifted, indispensable Spirit-filled co-laborers and co-heirs in God’s Kingdom-a message we preach to a sex-saturated world that pervasively demeans and objectifies women, viewing physical appearance as the highest virtue. It May Inadvertently Devalue Women.įirst among these is that it can easily send the wrong message to hearers about the value of women. ![]() “Everything is permissible,” writes the Apostle Paul, “but not everything is beneficial.” (1 Corinthians 6:12) While there’s nothing inherently wrong with the phrase, there are good reasons why Christians may want to rethink the “smokin’ hot spouse” trope in the way we talk about our spouses. Is Song of Songs not a sort of ancient ode to a Smokin Hot Wife? After all, Proverbs 5:18-19 tells us to “rejoice in the wife of your youth … may her breasts satisfy you always.” And then there’s that inspired erotica in the Song of Songs, with metaphorical fruits being tasted and trees being climbed and all sorts of poetic praising for the beloved’s flock of sheep-like hair, twin-gazelle-breasts, towering neck. Husband to the smokin’ hot is something to be said for Christians speaking up positively about marriage and sex, and the smokin’ hot wives and their proud husbands are quick to defend the phrase: No harm is meant, playful banter and an active sex life are indicators of a thriving marriage, and public statements of praise for one’s spouse build them up and also signal to the rest of the world that they’re happily spoken for. Pastor Joe Helms opened a 2011 NASCAR race with a prayer of thanks for-among other things-cars, gasoline, and his smokin’ hot wife and the expression has since become a regular feature on Twitter bios: e.g., Father. I wouldn’t have expected catch-phrases from a Hollywood spoof to have quite the same stickability as the Bard of Avon, but I was wrong. In a somewhat different vein, 16 years ago Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby gave us the phrases “shake and bake” and, most famously, “smokin’ hot wife,” for whom Will Ferrell’s character was hilariously grateful to Baby Jesus. Four hundred years ago, Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet and coined the phrases “star-crossed lovers” and “wild-goose chase.” The expressions stuck, and quickly grafted themselves into everyday English. ![]()
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