June 9, 2009Common Sense Christian Part Three:
Promoting Sexual Purity Through Abstinence Only Education and Programs Such as True Love Waits
by Greene Hollowell and Evan Moore
Virginia Christian Alliance Copyright © 2009
(see Part 1 and see Part 2)
Introduction
Sex has become one of the biggest driving forces in today's society. In January 2006, Save America Ministries released, "Sexual Seduction of the Union: A Sexual Portrait of American Life," a study on sexual beliefs and activities in America.
Moreover, divorce rates, as well as unhappy and unfaithful marriages, are rising. In 2003, there were approximately 1.2 million new divorces.[2] Also, children are discovering Internet pornography, and in a world where anonymity is easily obtained, sexual addiction is the plague of the 21st century. According to Save America Ministries, "Since 1991, the number of new hard-core video titles released each year has increased 500%," and Playboy website averages 5 million views a day. In fact, pornography has become the third largest business on the Internet.[3] It is a twelve billion dollar industry, surpassing the revenues of every major professional sport combined.[4]
With these things in mind, it is important to know that God created sex, meaning it is inherently good. We have distorted and corrupted sex for our selfish desires. God has always intended for sex to stay within the boundaries of marriage. It is a special gift, a wholly unique blessing that one can only fully appreciate through God-ordained marriage. We abuse this gift on a daily basis, engaging in pre-marital sex, which God has forbidden, being unfaithful to our spouses, and indulging in various forms of pornography. God has a better plan than this. His plan is pure and holy. He spells it out for us throughout the Bible, and He promises eternal joy and fulfillment.
Ephesians 5:3-4 best summarizes God's vision for our sexual lifestyles: "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or course joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving." Some might say His standards are strict, and they are. But God knows what's best for His children, and He expects obedience. Sexual immorality is very personal to God, because it is so closely linked with our identities in Him. To sin sexually is to sin against God as well as against oneself. 1st Corinthians 6:13 states, "The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." Therefore, it is against our body's nature to act impurely.
The act of sexual intercourse, two people becoming one flesh, is sacred. It resembles our union with Christ. If we truly believe God is the ultimate matchmaker who pairs us with our spouses, then to have sex with anyone else is clearly apart from His will. 1st Corinthians 6:15-20 explains how our bodies are members of Christ. By uniting our bodies with those of a "prostitute," we sin not only against God, but our spouse (present or future), the individual with whom we are involved, and ourselves. Our bodies are temples for the Lord:
The Damages of Fornication and Sexual Promiscuity
If God made sex pleasurable, why would He withhold it from us? In Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships, Chip Ingram sheds some light on the topic: "[God] wants you to have a relationship with another person where you look deeply into one another's eyes and you can trust one another... There's emotional oneness and there's spiritual oneness."[5] Since this is God's plan for sex, it is the only way to truly experience sex. As a result, fornication and sexual promiscuity are complete wastes. They can only lead to brokenness. Our sexual liberties are self-destructive. By engaging in sexual relationships with multiple partners, we spread ourselves thin. We give ourselves away recklessly. But God has a plan for true oneness between individuals that reflects our relationship with Him and the Church.[6] And look at Adam and Eve. Genesis 4:1 describes their first sexual encounter: "Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain" (ESV). Here, sex is likened to knowing someone intimately the way God knows each of His children. This is a sacred and holy act. When we "keep the marriage bed holy, and [celebrate] sexuality with the approval of God," we don't have to worry about "guilt" or "baggage," and we'll experience sex the way God intended: the best way.[7] Promiscuity cheapens sex and leaves us unfulfilled. It's like the coin slots at a Las Vegas Casino: we keep feeding them money, but in the end, we lose more than we gain and leave unhappy. God has forbidden fornication and sexual promiscuity for good reason.
Recently, America's youth have been hearing the message of abstinence through programs like True Love Waits and Keep It Simple Say No (KISSN). Thousands of teenagers have made commitments to abstinence, and the programs continue to grow in popularity and scope, but there is still a lot of work to be done, as the United States has one of the highest levels of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world.[9]
Adultery
Lust, Pornography, & Addiction
And allowing even a hint of pornography into our lifestyles is like playing with matches. Addiction is likely to follow, because our flesh is weak and always wants more of what it shouldn't have. To be addicted is to be a slave to something. However, God has made it perfectly clear that we are slaves to nothing. Jesus came to end our enslavement; therefore, we have freedom in Christ. Addiction is also a form of idolatry. The Bible warns us against idols: "For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do - living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry" (1st Peter 4:3). Before we know it, we are caught up in a world of lust, where we think only of ourselves. Our priorities are askew; we are spending less time with our friends, our families, and God, and we are living in sin, which is entirely against God's perfect nature, not to mention our own, since we are born again Christians, created anew in Christ.
Distortions of Sex
Oral Sex:
Incest, Bestiality, & Pedophilia:
While these practices might sound absurd, perhaps even ancient, they still occur around the world. They are terrible distortions of God's good plan for sexual intimacy. Deuteronomy 27:21 states, "Cursed is the man who has sexual relations with any animal," and verse 22 states, "Cursed is the man who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother." God created sex for man and woman and for marriage. And sexual relations within one's family are also prohibited; they will not lead to marriage, and God has clearly forbidden it.
Pedophilia, too, is wrong in the eyes of God. Sex was designed for loving adults united in marriage. Children are physically unready for sex, and pedophilia can only produce a parasitic relationship. It is entirely self-seeking and harmful to the child involved, both physically and emotionally. In many cases, children who have been sexually abused or molested end up with recurring problems like homosexuality.
Homosexuality:
Spreading acceptance of homosexuality is one of the biggest threats facing our nation today. Thousands of homosexual advocates are pushing for same-sex marriage in the United States. Some states have already given in. People say, "What's the big deal? If they love each other, why can't they get married too?" Nowadays, Christians are seen as the bad guys. Ultimately, though, homosexuality is against human nature, and God does not approve of it. As Dr. D. James Kennedy remarks in, What's Wrong with Same-Sex Marriage?, "The plumbing doesn't work. We weren't designed this way."[11] The Apostle, Paul, also addresses the many sins of mankind, including homosexuality. He, too, calls it unnatural (Romans 1:26-27).
Believe it or not, but in the western world, "less than 2 percent of the male population, and less than 1 percent of the female, are exclusively homosexual in inclination and practice,"[12] meaning it is a rare practice. Also take into consideration that homosexuals have a much shorter life span than heterosexuals: "[Both] men and women who choose the homosexual lifestyle lose, on average, thirty to thirty-five years of life, nearly half a lifetime."[13] After all, Galatians 6:7 states, "A man reaps what he sows." By engaging in homosexual behavior, the body opens itself to an onslaught of infectious diseases.
Homosexuality is a psychological disorder; it is not predetermined or natural as many people, scientists included, propose. God would not purposely make an individual homosexual, because it is against His nature. Rather, homosexuality is caused by a variety of factors that occur at an early age. For example, 75% of homosexuals "were sexually molested as children."[14] Perhaps even more convincing is that hundreds of people have turned from their homosexual practices. Organizations like Set Free Ministries based in Richmond, VA, and Exodus International are helping countless individuals find their true identities in Christ. So amazing is the redemptive, healing power of God that He can bring individuals out of the darkness of the world and into a true relationship with Him.
On June 29, 2007, cbn.com published an article on Charlene Cothran, editor-in-chief of Venus Magazine, a national gay and lesbian publication, citing that the outspoken homosexual advocate of thirty years has found God and given up her sinful lifestyle. She said, "I have a joy and a peace that I wouldn't trade for anything."[15] Since then, she has been working hard to change the direction of her magazine. Now its main focus is to call people out of homosexuality. As one might imagine, reception from the gay community has been harsh, but many people have confided in her, admitting that they, too, want out.
While homosexuality is wrong, we should love homosexuals. Kennedy writes, "For two thousand years it has been the Christian position that we are to love the sinner but hate the sin,"[16] and he couldn't be more correct. God calls us to love and to help everyone. It is not our place to judge others; that power rests with our Father alone. However, this does not mean we are to shrug our shoulders at peoples' sin and do nothing. To hate sin is righteous. God loathes sin, and as image-bearers, we should hate sin, too, because it is everything that God is not. But it is crucial to remember that as Christians, we must not allow our hate for the sin of homosexuality to transfer to those who practice homosexuality.
Conclusion
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Common Sense 2009 is published by the Virginia Christian Alliance, Inc., 8604-B Staples Mill Road, Richmond, VA, 23228. The subjects and thrust were selected and developed by Greene Hollowell, the research and composition by Evan Moore.
Z. Greene Hollowell was born in Goldsboro, NC, and graduated from N.C. State College in Construction in 1953. He was involved in the construction industry for nearly 50 years. He is retired and resides in Richmond, VA.
Evan T. Moore, a native of Richmond, VA, graduated from Christopher Newport University with a bachelor's degree in English in 2007. He works and resides in Winston-Salem, NC.
[1] "Sexual Seduction of the Union."
Save America Ministries. http://www.saveus.org/docs/factsheets/sexual%20_seduction.pdf
(Accessed July 23, 2007).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Peter S. Grasso Jr., In God We Betrayed (Xulon Press, 2006), 82.
[5] Chip Ingram, Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003), 132.
[6] Michael R. Cosby, Sex in the Bible (Englewood Cliffs: Steeple Books, 1984), 11.
[7] Ingram, Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships, 132.
[8] Stephen Arterburn, Fred Stoeker, and Mike Yorkey, Every Man's Battle (Colorado Springs: Waterbrook Press, 2000), 57.
[9]"True Love Waits: Overview." True Love Waits: A Lifeway Ministry. http://www.lifeway.com/tlw/downloads/pdf_tlw_overview.pdf (Accessed July 24, 2007).
[10] Ingram, Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships, 118.
[11] D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, What's Wrong with Same-Sex Marriage? (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2004), 55.
[12] John Stott, Same-Sex Partnerships? (Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1998), 11.
[13] Kennedy and Newcombe, What's Wrong with Same-Sex Marriage?, 88.
[14] Ibid., 58.
[15] Charlene Israel. "A Lesbian's Deliverance." Christian World News. http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/188122.aspx (Accessed July 23, 2007).
[16] Kennedy and Newcombe, What's Wrong with Same-Sex Marriage?, 81.
