Holiness Is Not Self-Serving: The Purity Culture’s Sins

I had a very interesting discussion with my 16 year old daughter today, who is frustrated that many people are very emphatic about the big issues, in particular this one. We need to remember that Rahab and Tamar are in the lineage of Christ—God can use us even if we’ve made some pretty big sins. All too often, we forget the very Gospel in our attempts to pretend to be pure.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

My daughter’s big issue is that many times, little cultural issues are emphasized with great effort, but the big issues—like exactly why it’s good to flee fornication and such—are talked around. We are, more or less, bowdlerizing.

Along another note, I gave a quick briefing to two prospective Sunday School teachers yesterday, and one of the things I mentioned to them is that they may do well to emphasize the big issues in theology—and with regards to this topic, the big reason that fornication is wrong has to do with the character of God. If we get the big things right, the little things will take care of themselves.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.