Forgive the title; my attempt at being poetic inevitably has fallen short. But I think it brings to light some problems inherent in pre-marital sex.
But then, I'm not going to actually discuss its problems, but why people want to do it. And why they- no- we want to do so. And what we're doing to discourage it. Because there is no way on earth we will ever prohibit it.
It's fun, isn't it? It's exciting. Or so I hear and am told. The most frustrating, yet paradoxically logically meaningless argument offered is that everyone does it: and why shouldn't you? This was basically Giselle Bundchen's argument, and while I must slap myself for actually referring to her, she still speaks for many- and many listen.
You can't argue against peer pressure, as much as you would like. You might have debates and maybe "win" them, but at the end of the day if the majority still don't agree, you've gone nowhere.
But while pre-marital sex might be widely accepted in other countries, it's still mainly frowned upon here, obviously. This might be a good thing and a bad thing, depending on how obedient you are to cultural or religious principles. Rebels to such generally will, uh, love to have sex.
This brings me to some thoughts I have on how we, the Christians, ought to make some difference. Beyond those limited abstinence campaigns (and they are mainly held by Christians, at churches, for Christians) and talks every week on the evils of premarital sex, I think it's time we started bringing our concerns out into the open.
Here is the problem. Our rejection (accurately, most conservative churches) of premarital sex stems from the fact that we see it add odds to Biblical command. That is the root fact, despite there being others (such as psychological and bodily damage).
So do we just go out to schools, colleges and universities handing out leaflets quoting scripture prohibiting such? As far as I know, no church does that.
Yet sometime such truths as why fornication is wrong require something else to comprehend them. I.e., the mind of Christ. Perhaps 1 Corinthians 2:14 applies:
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
So maybe we should be too surprised as to why so many don't get our idea. Hey, it's fun, that's why. Why stop? Or perhaps they are in a relatively secure relationship, and trust one another. Either way, while there may be actually no physical or emotional consequences, there might be spiritual ones (that is, sin against God).
How are we going to bring that fact across? Well, besides prayer (we should pray more about this fact, seriously), we have forgotten the most important thing precursor to all social and spiritual change. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Obviously. And it seems in most cases, the presentation runs backward. First biblical truths that some may never comprehend. Then only the Gospel.
This is not to say that all social reform acts done are pointless if they are independent of the Gospel. But if they are to be done independently, we need a smarter plan, and we need to team up with the rest (as some have done in their efforts already).
Are we forgetting that we live in Malaysia, a supposedly Islamic country? We all know how conservative Islam (and Muslims) are right? So, I think, we can cooperate with them (be they Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Taoists etc.) to bring forth the view that premarital sex is unnecessary. And not just unnecessary, but risky and dangerous.
And also, we as Christians know this as well: It's a sin. Simple as that.
But then, I'm not going to actually discuss its problems, but why people want to do it. And why they- no- we want to do so. And what we're doing to discourage it. Because there is no way on earth we will ever prohibit it.
It's fun, isn't it? It's exciting. Or so I hear and am told. The most frustrating, yet paradoxically logically meaningless argument offered is that everyone does it: and why shouldn't you? This was basically Giselle Bundchen's argument, and while I must slap myself for actually referring to her, she still speaks for many- and many listen.
You can't argue against peer pressure, as much as you would like. You might have debates and maybe "win" them, but at the end of the day if the majority still don't agree, you've gone nowhere.
But while pre-marital sex might be widely accepted in other countries, it's still mainly frowned upon here, obviously. This might be a good thing and a bad thing, depending on how obedient you are to cultural or religious principles. Rebels to such generally will, uh, love to have sex.
This brings me to some thoughts I have on how we, the Christians, ought to make some difference. Beyond those limited abstinence campaigns (and they are mainly held by Christians, at churches, for Christians) and talks every week on the evils of premarital sex, I think it's time we started bringing our concerns out into the open.
Here is the problem. Our rejection (accurately, most conservative churches) of premarital sex stems from the fact that we see it add odds to Biblical command. That is the root fact, despite there being others (such as psychological and bodily damage).
So do we just go out to schools, colleges and universities handing out leaflets quoting scripture prohibiting such? As far as I know, no church does that.
Yet sometime such truths as why fornication is wrong require something else to comprehend them. I.e., the mind of Christ. Perhaps 1 Corinthians 2:14 applies:
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
So maybe we should be too surprised as to why so many don't get our idea. Hey, it's fun, that's why. Why stop? Or perhaps they are in a relatively secure relationship, and trust one another. Either way, while there may be actually no physical or emotional consequences, there might be spiritual ones (that is, sin against God).
How are we going to bring that fact across? Well, besides prayer (we should pray more about this fact, seriously), we have forgotten the most important thing precursor to all social and spiritual change. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Obviously. And it seems in most cases, the presentation runs backward. First biblical truths that some may never comprehend. Then only the Gospel.
This is not to say that all social reform acts done are pointless if they are independent of the Gospel. But if they are to be done independently, we need a smarter plan, and we need to team up with the rest (as some have done in their efforts already).
Are we forgetting that we live in Malaysia, a supposedly Islamic country? We all know how conservative Islam (and Muslims) are right? So, I think, we can cooperate with them (be they Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Taoists etc.) to bring forth the view that premarital sex is unnecessary. And not just unnecessary, but risky and dangerous.
And also, we as Christians know this as well: It's a sin. Simple as that.
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