Its everywhere. Its almost impossible to avoid it. I am talking about pornography in all of its insidious, insipid forms. Kevin Scott, an English professor at a small college in Georgia, decided to write a book about porn culture after his 5-year old daughter asked him for a Bratz doll. In a recent Newsweek article Scott said, "I realized porn culture and I were in a death match for my daughter's soul."
Is it that bad? Has this culture of sex really impacted the youth of today? Check out this article about a 15-year old girl who is being charged with child-pornography for sending nude pictures of herself to her friends. This is the second or third incident I have read about this year.
Every second 28,258 Internet users are viewing pornography. Every 39 minutes a new pornographic video is being created in the United States. The U.S. porn industry generates over 13 BILLION dollars every year. The average age for first internet exposure to porn is 11 years old. Do we have a problem?
The Bible tells us, in 1 Corinthians 6:18, to flee sexual immorality. The words sexual immorality are translated from the Greek word porneia. Does that word sound familiar? So Paul is telling us to flee, or run away from porneia. The word flee is a present, active, imperative verb. What does that mean? Well the idea behind it is to make it your habit to flee. To keep on fleeing all the time. To never stop. It is also a command (imperative), not a suggestion.
Verses 19-20 go on to say:
Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
You are not your own. You were bought with a price. These are statements of fact. These are statements of truth. God bought you with the blood of His Son Jesus. Through that, you have been made clean and are no longer in bondage to sin. Therefore, glorify God in your body and teach your children to glorify God in their bodies.
For more insight into the struggle with sexual sin Marc Driscoll has published a free e-book online. Be warned that he uses frank language that may be offensive to some people. This book was focused on helping the men in his church combat sexual temptations. Enjoy and may the Lord bless you.
4 comments:
As the mother of a one year old daughter, I dread the day that I hear her sweet little voice ask for a "Bratz" doll (or worse if the trend continues). It seems our babies are not allowed to stay babies very long and are inundated with overtly sexual images from a ridiculously young age. As parents, it's our job to shield them from such things, but how can we when it's EVERYWHERE? I haven't figured out an answer for that yet, but I'd better and FAST!!
Would you happen to know of any good resources for promoting modesty & purity to children and teens?
Do any of the parents out there have any strategies that have worked for you in promoting purity with your kids?
I found some articles and resources on Focus on the Family's website. I also Googled "promoting purity children teen" and found a few more sites. Like everything else online, you will have to figure out what is good and what is garbage.
I think that one of the best ways is by modeling the desired behavior ourselves. If we let our children see us watching shows that promote ideas like pre-marital sex, revealing clothing, treating the opposite sex as objects, etc. then what message are we sending them? If we listen to music in the car with less than holy themes, what message are we sending? I think we should hold ourselves to the same purity standards as those we'd like our children to aspire to. I also think it would be wise to point out biblical passages that illustrate God's desire for our purity, such as the one mentioned here in the original post. By educating teens on God's desire for them and leading by example, I think it may be more effective than any book I could by them on the subject.
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