Why Sex Sells—Even Among Spirit-Filled Christians

They say sex sells—and it’s not just hearsay. Remember Calvin Klein’s controversial—and sex-charged—advertising campaign from a decade ago? It doubled the designer’s revenue. And that’s just one example.

Although studies show that some are offended by sex in advertising—I am one of those people—it seems the topic nevertheless drives viewers in droves.

With that theory in mind, I set out to review some of the most popular articles of all time on Charisma News. You probably don’t have to guess what I found. Yes, it seems sex sells—even among tongue-talking, Spirit-filled Pentecostal and charismatic Christians who frequent this site.

Let’s review a few of the headlines on Charisma News that prove the point.

“Sex Symbols Who Speak in Tongues?” was one of our most popular articles in the history of the site. Megan Fox claims she speaks in tongues, and Michael Brown asks some hard questions.

And did you know that science proves premarital sex rewires the brain? Yes, one of our most popular articles ever reveals there’s a reason why breaking up from a sexual relationship is much more emotionally painful and much harder to forget than one that didn’t involve sex.

Another article that went massively viral was my column that asked “Why Do So Many ‘Born-Again, Spirit-Filled’ Women Show Off Cleavage in Church?” in which I question why some women enter God’s sanctuary on Sunday mornings dressed for clubbing.

Let’s not forget my recent column, “Forget Gay Marriage, Mainstream Media Now Pushing Polyamory,” which is another of our most popular all-time articles. Or the article “Pastor Cancels Wedding Over ‘Sexy Dress,’ Persecuted for Modest Mindset.” Or the perverted concept outlined in “Bestiality Now Making US Headlines, Not Always Illegal.”

So what’s the rub? Why does anything related to the topic of sex sell—even among online-magazine-reading Spirit-filled Christians? And what does that say about human nature?

At Charisma News, we rarely write about sex or related topics, save the gay marriage issue in the culture war or overcoming pornography addiction. In fact, these articles were among the relative few on the topic of sex among the multiplied thousands of articles we’ve posted. Yet these articles are among the most popular ever on our site. Why? Sound off.

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Making of a Prophet. You can email Jennifer at [email protected] or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.