1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 – “Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; 2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 

3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. 7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. 8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”  NKJV

I am deeply troubled and have been for quite a long time concerning the mindset of promiscuity among those who profess to be followers of Christ, believers of the Bible and Christians.  How widespread is it?  I do not know and pray that it is less prevalent than it seems.  I do not know how any God-fearing person could not be troubled by the significant decline in morality in our nation and our world.  I am aware of regular church attendees who see nothing problematic in their regular one-night stands, frequenting the clubs searching for sexual gratification.  Some have said, “That’s just the way I am” and “I have needs.”  I am not just talking about men but women as well have become aggressive in their pursuit of lasciviousness.

I hope I am wrong, but it seems that too little is said from the pulpit in and private counseling by men and women of God regarding this condition and situation.  Here in 1 Thessalonians Paul spoke plainly that “sexual immorality” damages and even destroys our sanctification.  He spoke about things that I have been told should not be brought up in public meetings, “possessing one’s own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust.”  Just because you can do something does not mean you should and having your brains in your britches is a dangerous course in life.  I’ve addressed this before to have people leave and threaten to leave the church because they didn’t want their teenagers hearing that discussion.  Some of them would later come to me asking for my help and council when their daughters or sons faced life altering decisions because of fornication.  I am not a prude and would never want to crude in this discussion but if we do not warn our children and adults of the dangers of sin why should we be surprised when they fall prey to temptation?

The Bible declares that the “marriage bed” is undefiled and God does not consider it a minor misstep in our walk when we engage in infidelity.  I am not surprised that the apostle Paul spent as much time as he did teaching proper and godly relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, and keeping chaste and pure until marriage.  Some schools today pass out condoms indiscriminately, have visual demonstrations that could only be identified as soft porn if not hardcore, and rather than teach abstinence and identify the problems that come from pre-marital and extra-marital sexual relations.  Most teachers are unable to address the effect it has physiologically and psychologically and rather than deal with the hard questions they avoid the subject completely except for the Sex Education Classes and Condoms.

Once we come to Christ it is imperative that we seek to maintain purity in all aspects of our lives including the physical.  Imagine the ramifications regarding members of the community and others far beyond the confines of the church walls or community boundaries when a man or woman of God is “caught” in failure in this area.  It not only affects them, their homes, their marriages, and their congregations but those outside the church who say, “See they are hypocrites and no different than anyone else.”  It severely damages the reputation of the Gospel in the eyes of those who are outside the Body of Christ.  Church, we dare not sit silently while many in today’s world demonstrate the morals of an ally cat.  We must manifest “self-control” and “shun” the very appearance of evil in our own lives.  We are to shun the appearance evil, not people.  We are called to be holy because He is holy.  This is weighing so heavily on my heart and I dare to bring it up.  My prayer is that if it touches one person and prevents them from making a critical error in their lives any push back I receive is well worth it.

            God bless you is my prayer and desire.