A pastor raised eyebrows with his Sunday (Oct. 9) sermon about women needing to accept that men are initially sexually attracted to them.
Pastor Howard Handy also claimed women were responsible for proving there was more to them than meets the eye.
A TikToker under the name @edwardmalone7 posted the sermon Oct. 9, writing in the caption, “Pastor Howard Handy of Resurrection Word Church in Houston, Texas, said that it is the responsibility of women to get men to think of them as something other than sex objects. His video has gone viral on social media #Houston #HowardHandy #ResurrectionWord“
According to the woman who posted the video, the sermon touched on the “relationship dynamics between man and woman.”
At the start of the almost 3-minute video, the pastor voiced his abhorrence for women griping about men’s sole desire for sex before confirming it.
“What you thought we [were] here for? A man does not want sex. A man needs sex,” the pastor said, receiving vocal praise from women churchgoers. “And there’s a difference. For one milliliter of sperm, it’s between 50 and 200 million sperm cells in one milliliter. There’s a potential between 40 million and 200 million people swimming around in one milliliter.”
Handy continued, “God has created a man to dispel that seed. Furthermore, it’s the woman who has to take a hiatus off every month from sex, not the man. A man can stay on from the time he’s living [until] the time he dies.”
The pastor then compared men sexually desiring women to a worm on a hook — the worm being women’s “breasts, booty, thighs and lips.”
Right, because God created women’s breasts for men to enjoy, not to produce milk and feed babies.
He then blamed women and how they dress for men’s concupiscent thoughts, feelings and behavior.
“We are attracted to a woman for what we see, period, point blank. Get over it,” Handy exclaimed. “Y’all come out slinky. Pasties on here and all this stuff, and then don’t want nobody to look at you. Don’t want nobody to sexually objectify you. Why? What you thought we were [going to] do? What you put it on for if you don’t want to be objectified?”
The rest of the sermon is the pastor implying women should dress more conservatively and show men that there’s more to them than their bodies.
The sermon caused many to wonder what biblical verses he preached from. Some mentioned 1 Corinthians 7:2-5, which instructs God’s people to engage in sexual relations in marriage to combat sexual immorality. It also states that both partners are to fulfill their marital duties to each other and that the wife must yield her body to her husband, the same for the husband.
“Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”
People sometimes take this out of context, claiming these verses state that married partners need sex and can’t deprive each other of it, placing this unnecessary stress on partners to constantly get it on. But the bible talks about using God’s words as a weapon against people like the Pharisees.
The verses do not make a spouse entitled to sex whenever and wherever especially when the other isn’t up for it. These verses do not give leverage for those to hang the verse over their spouse’s head, claiming they’re “depriving” them of satisfying an urge. Instead, they affirm that both partners have authority over each other’s bodies and that a leader is not selfish but aims to serve others (Matthew 20:25-28).
So, both partners should communicate how to please each other in that unity to avoid engaging in sexual immorality.
These verses also contradict the beginning of the pastor’s sermon.
The premise of the verses above is to instruct God’s people on the best and holy way to refrain from sexual immorality, which is marriage, where God encourages a man and woman to engage in sex to procreate.
However, this verse also shows that sex is not a need but a desire. And the bible does mention several times how desires can lead those to fall into temptation.
It’s unclear if Handy added how sex should be confined to marriage to his controversial sermon. But it doesn’t seem like the case since he excused a man’s initial sexual attraction to a woman upon first meeting.
Additionally, 1 Corinthians 7:9 clearly states that those who aren’t married or are widowed are best to stay unmarried unless they don’t have self-control, which shows that sex is an urge and not a necessity. Even scientists say a man not releasing sperm won’t be detrimental to a man’s health.
It’s also unclear if the pastor preached on Matthew 5:27-30, which tells those to refrain from looking at women with lustful intent.
So, while part of the pastor’s sermon blamed women’s clothing for men’s immaturity, he should’ve held men accountable for their lustful thoughts and feelings. He should’ve preached about men needing self-control when seeing beautiful women regardless of their clothing.
“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell (Matthew 5:29-31).”
