Nicky Gumbel teaches that there is no such thing as ‘casual sex’. Every act of sexual intercourse effects a ‘one flesh’ union (1Corinthians 6:13-20). When this union is broken people get hurt. If you glue two pieces of corrugated cardboard together and then pull them apart, you can hear the sound of ripping and see that bits of each piece of card are left behind on the other. Similarly, becoming one flesh and then being torn apart leaves scars. We leave broken bits of ourselves in broken relationships. All around us we see what happens when God’s standards are ignored. We see broken marriages, broken hearts, hurt children, sexual disease and those whose lives are in a mess. On the other hand, in so many Christian marriages where God’s standards are kept, we see the blessing that God intended to bestow on the whole area of sex and marriage.

Nicky Gumbel, Alpha Questions of Life, 2007, Eastbourne: Kingsway Communications, p.222-3