First off, it’s been a while since I’ve posted, and I do have a couple of things rolling around in my brain. But this one will be kind of a drive-by posting. Sorry for the abruptness.

The CDC is reporting that…

At least one in four teenage girls nationwide has a sexually transmitted disease, or more than 3 million teens, according to the first study of its kind in this age group.

Here’s an idea… STOP SCREWING AROUND!

Now, I do understand that there are boys involved in this so it obviously isn’t just the fault of the girls here. I’m not blaming just the girls. I also understand that there are times when this is the result of rape, incest, etc. I’m not that ignorant nor insensitive. But it seems rather obvious to me, having spent six years as a teen myself, that the vast majority of these cases is just kids having sex, “protected” or otherwise.

Why is it that we are afraid to or grossed out by drinking out of the same can or bottle of pop/beer/booze as someone else (at least when we are sober), but kids will give each other oral sex in the stair well at school or hook up at a party without thinking twice? “Make sure to wash your hands after going to the bathroom kids, and then get your penicillin shot.”

And people say that those who promote abstinence are stupid. Maybe God’s way is the best way. Heterosexual married sex. If everyone stuck to that, our sons and daughters wouldn’t have to worry about this. Ever.

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I suppose this could be as generic or specific as one could want it to be. I say that because I have a specific topic in mind because of a specific scriptural example, but the principle could be applied to other areas. I’m teaching Acts 13:4-12 this weekend. Having done some reading on the history of Cyprus some interesting things come to light as to Barnabas’ and Saul’s ministry there, specifically in Paphos. Basically they walked into porn central and apparently came out unscathed. Well, all but John Mark. It’s an interesting example of being in the world but not of it.

It’s important to keep in mind verses 1-3. The Spirit Himself specifically set these two guys apart. They fasted and prayed. They got their armor on. They got ready to go into hostile territory with the message of peace. Paphos was the home of the temple to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sex. There were “priestesses” who “served” in the temple for those who wanted to worship. In fact, every maiden had to “serve” in the temple before she could marry. It was said that those who were ugly would wait as long as four years before they were chosen to serve and be free to marry. There was a giant statue at the temple, but not of a person, of a phallus.

This is where Barnabas and Saul were sent.

They didn’t retreat. They didn’t say, “We can’t go there, don’t you know what goes on there? We might be tempted or sin in our hearts by feeling lust.” They prayed, fasted, and got ready before going in, and this after they were called. Where am I going with this? Lemme tell ya.

We tell people to put on the full armor of God, that our warfare is not against flesh and blood. We tell people to be in the world but not of it. We tell people to go ye into all the world. But what tends to happen is that we retreat into our comfort zones and rarely engage the world where it is. We do this in the name of holiness, not wanting to be defiled by the things of the world. That’s a good desire, but it’s lousy evangelism. Why do we do this? Do we really trust our armor? We say “go” but do we really mean it?

This is why admire people like those at xxxchurch.com. As I understand their story, they heard the call to reach out to those in the porn industry and to those who struggle with pornography. They go to national porn conventions, buy a booth, set up shop, give out thousands of Bibles and witness to these people who are deceived and trapped in that industry. And they see results. Is that kind of thing for everyone? Absolutely not. It is for those who are called and those who are equipped and prepared for that work.

When I was at the Univ. of Wash., the third quarter of my first year and the first quarter of my second year I worked at a sorority. You know who lives in a sorority right? College chicks. Usually pretty hot ones. But I didn’t just work there, I lived there. I was a “house boy.” In fact, four of us lived there full time. It was during this time in my life that I really had a vision and a passion for God. I was closer to Him than I ever had been before. Earlier in my life I really struggled with porn. Now I’m living in a house of college women. And you know what? While I was living there I experienced no lust. None. One time, in the laundry room, I walked in on a girl wearing not much more than a t-shirt, if she was wearing anything more than that at all (after all, she was doing laundry). Honest to goodness, I walked in, she tried to hide behind her laundry basket, and I said, “Oh, it’s ok, I have a sister.” Naive, I know, but I meant it! Not only was lust not an issue at that time, I had a heart for these girls. I saw them drunk and slutty all the time. I felt sad for them. I tried to witness to some of them. I didn’t see any immediate result but I got them thinking. My armor was working. I was in a place with tremendous temptation, the last place most Christian college guys should be, yet the Lord was with me and protected me.

So, what do you think of ministries like xxchurch? What do you think of people who say they have a ministry to those caught up in (blank) lifestyle? Do we write them off and say, “God would never call someone to a place like that with all that sin.” Do we judge them as carnal and “of the flesh” trying to get their jollies under a spiritual sounding umbrella? Or do we consider the possibility that, like Barney and Saul, they have been called and equipped to go there and preach the gospel?

I’ll end with a nugget from Tom Stipe. He said, “What kind of people become believers? Non-believers. Non-believers are the only kind of people who become believers.” Duh. Shockingly simple, but true. Why didn’t I think of that? Are we so busy trying to keep the believers we have happy, or trying to attract other believers, that we forget about the people we are supposed to be reconciling to God? Have I been doing that? If so, I need to stop being a man pleaser and become a God pleaser. That’s not to say we should tell people in our churches, “Forget you, I’m going after these guys.” Rather, we ought to say, “God is calling us to make disciples. Care to join me?”

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Now that I have your attention…

No, this post isn’t about some nut job that thinks Jesus impregnated them. Nor is it intended to be a disrespectful title for what is a very Biblically based blog posting. It’s the phrase that came to mind as I read the first part of Romans 7 the other day. Romans 7 is usually famous for the “Romans 7 shuffle” which is the last half of the chapter. “The thing I don’t want to do, that I do. The thing I want do to, I don’t do. Do be do be do.” (OK, that last part was Frank Sinatra). Take a look at the first half and you will see what I mean by “knocked up by Jesus.”

In the first three verses, Paul begins by comparing our relationship with the Law to a woman whose husband has died. You have to think 1st century Jewish here. When we get married today, people say “as long as we both shall live” but over half of them don’t mean it. In the ancient Jewish mind, a woman who was married, got divorced, and remarried was committing adultery because her fist husband was still alive. That is what is so significant in Paul’s argument here. If a woman’s husband died, she was free from all of the Laws that connected her to her husband. She was no longer bound to him or those Laws. Because he died, she was free to remarry.

In verse 4, Paul makes the connection to those who are in Christ. Whether we knew it or not, before we became Christians we were married to the Law and all it’s consequences. Now that we are Christians, the Law is dead to us. This means that we are free to be married to another; to Jesus. This isn’t the only place Paul uses this picture of followers being the bride of Christ (see Ephesians 5). It’s a picture of our relationship, of our intimacy, of our commitment to Him. Jesus is alive, or else we’d be married to a dead guy. Ick. So the Law is dead to us, it no longer holds power over us to condemn us of sin, and we are now remarried to Jesus. He is our main Man. But look at what Paul says at the end of verse 4. “That we should bear fruit to God.” What does that mean? I’m glad you asked. I’m glad I asked!

The context here for the usage of the word “fruit” is marriage. A student of the Bible should instantly flash back to the beginning, to Genesis. What was God’s command to Adam and Eve, the first married couple? “Be fruitful and multiply.” (Genesis 1:28.) What does this mean? Get pregnant and have kids. What does it mean to bear fruit to God? Get pregnant and have kids. Knocked up by Jesus. Obviously I’m speaking figuratively or spiritually, as is Paul. He is trying to communicate a point, a principle.
The picture is reproduction. Reproduction involves intimacy. Again, the context of the illustration is marriage. Closeness. Openness. Letting another see you and experience you as you also see and experience them. Is that language to personal? Making you uncomfortable? As close and personal as you may be with your husband or wife, it is only a shadow of what we can be, what we are supposed to have, with the Lord. If your marriage sucks then you probably don’t have a positive mental image of what all this means. That is unfortunate. But let’s keep moving, shall we?

In verse 5 Paul points out what we used to have when we were married to the Law in our flesh. Look at the overt sexual innuendo Paul uses. “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.” Passion. Arousal. Members. In case you didn’t know, Rome was a very sexually screwed up culture. Much worse than we are here in America. The picture here is a horny person who will have sex with anything that moves. I believe the term in we used in college was a “horn dog.” That’s what we were before we came to Christ. Ever thought about it like that? I hadn’t until I just reread this passage. The result, the fruit, the kids, the offspring was death. Spiritual death, disease and decay for ourselves and those around us, that always had real, physical consequences. STDs. Drugs. Jail. Divorce. Abuse. That’s what we were, that’s what we had when we were married to our ex.

Verse 6 tells us that we have been delivered from that. The Law is dead to us. We have died to it. It has died to us. It no longer holds any condemning authority over us. We aren’t married to it anymore. We are married to Jesus. The result of our intimate relationship with Him is offspring. In our previous marriage we produced death. In this one we produce life. That is supposed to be our fruit.

To continue in the theme we must examine ourselves. How is your marriage to Jesus doing? Are you warm, open, and receptive to Him, or are you frigid? Do you go on dates with Him or do you have to constantly reschedule? When you are out and about do you introduce Him to others? Imagine being out with your spouse and you run into some people from work or something. Your wife is right there with you. Would you introduce the group to your wife and your wife to the group? Of course you would. It’s the same thing with Jesus. He is with you 24/7. He watches your movies and TV shows with you. He listens to your music with you. He hears the conversations you have and the thoughts you think.

Does that make you nervous? If it does, you can fix it. He will never leave you nor forsake you. (Matthew 28:19-20.) Fall in love with Jesus. Develop that intimate relationship with Him. It’s what He made you for. Go on, I dare you…

If you are still married to the Law, if you are not a Christian and you want out of that marriage but you don’t know what to do, head on over to this website and it will get you started.

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