Fornication

This morning I was praying over the reading from Paul and saw the words "no fornicator will enter the kingdom." What made that jump out at me was a headline I caught yesterday on the internet that basically said, "True love waits... not any more." It was more bad news about how Christian kids exhibit the same sexual (im)morality as secular kids. I think this is probably, in part, because at some point the ascendent belief is that God is not really that into sex. The "anti-Purtian" label, meaning open to non-marital expression, is a factor of (and contributor to) the high divorce rate and decreasing marriage rate.

I think that most people are pretty open to any argument that they are free to have sex with multiple partners. Most men I know consider it a struggle to remain chaste. From my reading there are some biological factors involved in this. There is also the "anti-judgmental" label. This is the trump card in most discussions. "Who are you to judge?" It sounds pretty Christian to not judge, so lots of folks assume we have to say nothing. And once you have said nothing long enough, it impacts your behaviors.

The losers in a high fornication society are women, then children and eventually society. Men are also losers, although they may not percieve it as such.

Is there a way to take seriously the biblical mandate on sexual morality without becoming so tied up in knots about sex that is the only thing we talk about? Obviously, there is, but it is also obvious that in our current cultural landscape it will be exceedingly difficult.

The value of daily Scripture reading, prayer and reflection is that it confronts us, each day, with perspectives outside of our normal patterns. As Christians we benefit from hearing the Word, even when we are not clear exactly what to do with it.

Today it is not uncommon for Christian young people (and not so young) to live together without benefit of a wedding. Lots of arguments are given to make this possible. Perhaps we would do well to spend more time with the underlying assumptions in our thought to figure out how we ended up here. And Paul seems to think it is of eternal significance that we get it right!