A Promising Title Gives Way To Disappointment On An Important Subject

The title of the article was very promising. Why? The title was: Celebrate Sexual Ethics. Don't Apologize For Them (click here for the article). The article was about how we should regard Biblical sexual morals. The writer of the article, Andrea Palpant Dilley (click here for a bio), aptly describes why the title was promising for Christians. She states that all too many believers have compromised Biblical standards regarding sex. Those believers include many young people but also some renowned Christians as well.

But unfortunately, the article, despite its basic message being correct, went downhill from there. Dilley never explains why many Christians have abandoned the Scriptures regarding their rules on sexual behavior.  Then there is the overstated claim on what the Scriptural standards on sex will produce. It isn't that following what the Scriptures say about sex never come with great rewards or escape from all sorts of great hazards. It is that holding to what the Scriptures say can come at a great price too. The statement about the lifestyles of transexuals and gays come with health problems in terms of emotions and physical health is made without citation or context. And I know people who are gay who don't have the weaknesses I have and have strengths I don't have.

Then there is the end that tells those of us who have held to Biblical sexual standards to be full of joy and pride as we hold up the banner of those standards. But most Christian who have ever successfully dealt with sexual temptations should not have pride. Why? It is because most of us have learned that when we see those who did not successfully battle sexual temptation, our first reaction is to say, 'but for the grace of God go I.'

Yes, there are earthly rewards for holding to what the Scriptures say, but it can also come with a heavy cross to bear. And why God saved us from falling to sexual temptations while He let others give in is a mysterious lesson in God's grace. And where there is God's grace, there is no pride because it is grace that saved us from those temptations, not our own will power.

In addition, it isn't just holding on to the Scriptural standards on sex that is important, it is how we hold on. For some, sexual repression has been what has kept  them from falling into sexual sin. But that repression often comes with a heavy price.

I'm afraid that though the subject of the above article is very important and that the article points to our need to follow the Scriptural standards on sex. And the title of the article is very promising. The rest of the article is very disappointing.