Case Study: The Christian Prostitute

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Hello, Mrs. Johnson! How can I help you?

I feel like a prostitute.

And with that, your counseling session begins. Mrs. Johnson has been married for 27 years, most of which was one series after another of miscommunication. She says her husband seems to have one thing in his mind and the only time he is consistently helpful is when he wants to be intimate. She did admit that she uses sex as a manipulative tool when she wants something from him.

When her husband does not receive the intimacy he wants, he pouts at best and gets angry at worst. Mrs. Johnson said she and the kids walk on eggshells when he comes home, not knowing his mood for the day.

Sometimes she yields to his demands but finds no pleasure in being with him intimately. It’s the only way she knows to make him civil. It’s an endless cycle of pouting, anger, sex, pleasantness, pouting, anger, sex, ad nausea.

I know I’m part of the problem, but it all can’t be my fault. I would love to be intimate with him and enjoy it, but right now I do not see the light at the end of this hopeless tunnel. I feel like a prostitute.

Case Study Questions

1. What would you say to Mrs. Johnson?
2. What would you say to Mr. Johnson?
3. How would you apply 1 Peter 3:1-6 to Mrs. Johnson?
4. If Mr. Johnson repents, how would you proceed?
5. If Mr. Johnson does not repent, how would you proceed?

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Rick Thomas

Rick launched the Life Over Coffee global training network in 2008 to bring hope and help for you and others by creating resources that spark conversations for transformation. His primary responsibilities are resource creation and leadership development, which he does through speaking, writing, podcasting, and educating.

In 1990 he earned a BA in Theology and, in 1991, a BS in Education. In 1993, he received his ordination into Christian ministry, and in 2000 he graduated with an MA in Counseling from The Master’s University. In 2006 he was recognized as a Fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).