When it comes to relationships between men and women in the church, we ve got more questions than answers. How can men and women be in community when not married? Or if married, with people not our spouses? Can men and women be just friends ? How can we date wisely and well? What does it mean to be a woman if you re not a wife? Or a man if you re not a husband? How can we be in healthy, close relationships if we re single?

In Beyond Awkward Side Hugs, Bronwyn Lea lays out a biblical vision for relationships between men and women in the church. Jesus pattern for church living was one of family, of brothers and sisters living in intimate, healthy community with each other. Doing so calls for character and wisdom, for charting a path toward relationships that acknowledge gender but aren t sexualized, that go beyond the awkwardness of simplistic don t-touch don t-talk rules.