Mo Isom speaks on intimacy during Convocation week
Photo by Taylor Baker.
Mo Isom, a “New York Times” bestselling author and national speaker, returned to Lee for spring 2020 Convocation and spoke in two separate sermons focused on restoring relationships with Christ through intimacy and discernment.
In college, Isom was an All-American goalkeeper for the Louisiana State University (LSU) women’s soccer team. She was also the first woman to try out for an SEC men’s football team.
Isom was a favorite speaker among students since she first visited Lee in fall 2018. Because of this, she was invited to return and speak at Convocation. Starting the day with chapel, Isom spoke on the lack of true intimacy in the younger generation.
“I think there’s a number of different reasons as to why healthy intimacy alludes us. I do think there is a root of seeing few — and being involved in very few — truly healthy intimate relationships,” said Isom. “We see imperfect people trying to walk in a very broken world. Inevitably, we wound one another in the process. I think a lot of people in this generation are struggling to understand the fullness of intimacy because it hasn’t been modeled well.”
Isom currently has two published books — “Wreck My Life” and “Sex, Jesus, and the Conversations the Church Forgot.” The latter book focuses on conversations about sex, sexuality, immortality and addiction that are often forgotten in the modern-day church.
Isom is currently in the process of writing her third book which takes a deeper look into the messages she spoke at Convocation — intimacy with Christ.
“It centers around the very things we spoke about [in chapel]. Intimacy with God. To know my God and be known by God — what does that really mean?” said Isom. “It sent me on this beautiful and layered journey where I explored true intimacy with God. He revealed some really beautiful layers of how the physical model of intimacy that He’s given us parallels our model of intimacy with Him.”
Isom first began her writing career as a college student blogger. Studying broadcast journalism, Isom did not foresee book publishing in her future. After one of her blog posts reached over 250,000 views, Isom realized the impact of her words.
“I just shared when the Lord gave me a word,” said Isom. “I remember after I got engaged to my husband Jeremiah, I wrote a post called ‘I just got engaged and immediately doubted my decision. Here’s why I still said yes.’ It went, like, psycho-viral. I had a literary agent reach out to me after that post.”
Isom accepted a two-book deal with a publishing company, starting her career as a writer. Isom stated that at the beginning of the whole process, she had no grand plan for what was to come. She said it all comes from the faithfulness to just listen and obey.
“I think that when we sort of give [God] our faithful obedience and earnest heart, He’s the one who leads the way,” said Isom. “It’s really cool. I never thought I would write books.”
Isom did not shy away from the traditionally ‘taboo’ topic of physical intimacy and the shame which can accompany it. She paralleled the captivity of the Egyptians in the Bible to the lack of intimacy and depth in relationships that enslave this generation.
“I believe that the Spirit of the Living God is calling His children out of captivity and back to His heart,” said Isom.
To combat this atmosphere of enslavement, Isom often uses jarring and descriptive language in her messages such as “adulterous hearts.” She uses this language to draw a connection from physical intimacy to connect her audience back to true intimacy with Christ.
“The Lord opened my eyes to the prophetic parallel between the physical interactions that we see in the natural, and the same interactions that we see in the spiritual,” said Isom. “ It’s really beautiful to me to see that God gave us this physical act that deeply resonates with us. Everyone in the audience jeers and jars at those words because it’s a very intricate thing that we all recognize and understand in our flesh.”
Isom believes using this descriptive language enlivens the ideas and messages she is attempting to portray.
“[These words] bring it to life for us. Suddenly, it’s easier to understand,” said Isom.
Isom concluded her Convocation message Tuesday evening with a call to action and a heartfelt prayer for the student body.
Convocation will continue with a concluding message from Mark Walker on Wednesday night.
For more information about Mo Isom, visit her website here.
