Sexual Immorality

So I was having lunch with a Politician, a Journalist, and a Judge (True story!). We didn't intend on meeting together - we were just all in the same diner at the same time. The Politician and Journalist were debating the merits of homosexuality. The Judge and I were just wanting to eat our lunch and get out of there. It was one of those debates where the conclusion was already decided before the discussion ever began. Nobody was going to change anybody.

But then I asked, "Is there such a thing as sexual immorality?" To my amazement, everyone agreed there was. Then I asked, "Then what is it?"

What is Sexual Immorality?

Just a few weeks ago, the governor of New York resigned in disgrace after being caught soliciting prostitutes. I was amazed how the media questioned the criminalization of prostitution. "Think of the tax revenue if we legalized prostitution". They spent days publicizing and advancing the career of "Kristen" the prostitute. She will probably get a million dollar book deal after its all said and done. But no one talked of the immorality of it all... the damage done to Gov. Spitzer career... the damage done to his family, his wife, his daughters... the damage that caused "Kristen" to become a prostitute in the first place - how she came from an abusive childhood and broken family, addicted to drugs. She became a slave... Governor Spitzer's slave. Isn't that immoral? (And isn't it immoral how nobody wants to talk about that! That no one wants to talk about the 1 million children who are forced into prostitution each year.)

I was recently invited to a seminar called R.O.C.K. (Reclaiming Our Culture Kentuckiana). I was shocked to hear that the Louisville area is ranked 5th in worst clusters of sex business in the United States. Pornography is a $13 billion dollar industry. Is it immoral? Consider how 60% of websites are sexual in nature. Consider the fact that 9 out of 10 children have viewed pornography online. Consider that 138 countries have no laws against child-pornography - which is a huge concern for the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, which reports 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys in the United States are being sexually abused. Consider that rape is an epidemic in our country (95,000 per year) - one of the worst fears for women, and parents of young teen age girls. Yet, we have turned a blind eye to the fact that we are feeding and breeding sexual predators with unlimited pornography. Is pornography immoral? Which leads to sexual addiction, isolation, and abuse.

What the Bible Says?

It seems to me that our culture is in a crisis, and will continue to be in a crisis until we define or redefine what is sexually immoral. For me, the answer is easy. If the Bible says it is immoral - then it's immoral. The Bible warns us to "Flee sexual immorality." (1 Corinthians 6:18). "Abstain from... sexual immorality" (Acts 15:20). "Avoid sexual immorality" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). The context of 1 Corinthians 6 is specifically referring to prostitution. Jude 1:7 talks about the sexual immorality and perversion that took place in Sodom & Gomorrah. Specifically: homosexuality. (Also condemned in Romans 1:24-27, and 1 Corinthians 6:9). Concerning pornography, the Bible says, "...the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes...comes not from the Father but from the world." (1 John 2:16). The Bible strongly condemns adultery and fornication - which is sex before marriage, which causes children to be born out of wedlock (which is immoral!). Ephesians 5:3 warns us, "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people."

The book of Numbers records a plague against the Israelites that wiped out 24,000 people because of their sexual immorality. Today, 1 in 4 adolescent females are infected with a sexually transmitted disease - many of which are known to cause cancer.

Revelation 9:21 says, "The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent... Nor did they repent of their... sexual immorality."

The debate over what is sexually immoral will probably continue for a long time among those who do not consider themselves "Christian". But for those of us who call ourselves "Christian" - Case closed.

Go Bless,

Pete Baumgartle, Lanesville, IN

Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor... adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders... will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

"In 1970, pornagraphy was downtown. Today, it is downstairs." Father Morton A Hill