Disturbing article in World about teen sexuality. The article deals with a book Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers by Mark Regnerus. The telling statistics...
"...evangelical teens tend to have sex first at a younger age, 16.3, compared to liberal Protestants, who tend to lose their virginity at 16.7. And young evangelicals are far more likely to have had three or more sexual partners (13.7 percent) than non-evangelicals (8.9 percent)."
Apparently, Regnerus offers no pat answers, but the article asks a couple of hard questions regarding the cause of this concern.
"We can blame the culture. Regnerus gives evidence that correlates the sexual activity in the schools that Christian kids go to with their own behavior. Peer pressure is real, and Christian teenagers are not immune.
"But might we also blame the culture of the church? Not only because so many of today's evangelical churches follow the path of cultural conformity as a way to grow bigger and bigger. It goes deeper than that.
"Churches used to teach and exemplify self-control, the necessity of keeping one's emotions in check, the discipline of self-denial and mortification of the flesh. Today the typical evangelical church, in its example and practice, cultivates 'letting go,' emotionalism, self-fulfillment, and an odd religious sensuality."
Something isn't adding up. All the hype about the numbers of folks coming into the church in the form of megachurch growth is not affecting our culture. It isn't even affecting our own counter-culture. Where is the disconnect?
I wonder if Romans 1 offers a hint: "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts." I've long believed that our view of God will manifest itself in our behavior. When evangelicals downplay theology in favor of relevance, somehow the conception of God that results is an insufficient anchor. Like the hub of a wheel, when the hub is off center, the wheel begins to wobble.
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