1980s
Straight
Talk
The ’80s
saw an explosion of immorality in America. Rather than shy away
from topics that might be considered taboo, the Evangel chose to address personal issues of sin from a
frank and biblical perspective.
Teenagers need standards,
not contraceptives
Their motive may be unassailable, but the method is unconscionable.
They would check the rise in teenage pregnancies by handing out
10,000 free condoms to sexually active boys and girls!
It was part of Birth-Control Week,
February 12-18, in Toronto, Canada. The theme was, “Play It Safe.”
The health department of the city gave out 500 free mugs to health professionals
and news media people with such slogans on the mugs as, “Love Carefully”
and “Use Your Condom Sense.” …
We have been brainwashed into thinking
that instant gratification is the direct route to happiness. We are long on
pleasure and short on self-denial.
I think it’s high time we
gave our teenagers a lesson on the joys of anticipation. Let us offer our
young people the chance to experience responsibility, commitment and moral
virtue. Tell them that for their own good and the good of society, it is not
wise for them to have sexual relations at 13, 14, 15, 16 or 17, or before
marriage. Sex is too precious, too much of a milestone in life to be spoiled
by improper use.
— Michael P. Horban, May 20, 1984
God released me
from homosexuality
At 17 I bundled up my belongings and went off to a Christian college.
I had committed my life to Christ at a church camp and was seeking
nourishment for
my fledgling Christian faith. In the assumed security of my Christian
refuge, I was skillfully seduced into a homosexual relationship.
My background provided a classic
stereotype preparation for homosexuality. I came from a broken family void
of positive parental role models. I carried strong feelings of rejection and
suffered from a negative self-image. …
Since I was unable to combine Christianity
with my lesbian lifestyle, I tried to forget about God. I drank excessively,
combining drugs and alcohol to numb the guilt and erase the memory of the
God who declared, “I’ll never leave you or forsake you.”
…
My relationships were scattered
with the wreckage of the lives of others who had sought escape. Suicide statistics
were the faces of my drinking companions, and only God’s grace saved
me from the same fate.
My efforts to combine the two lives
were useless, as was my attempt to forget God. So I tried a third choice.
I embraced the lifestyle and immersed myself in militant feminism and political
ventures. I marched in parades with thousands of other homosexuals demanding
gay rights. I joined others who had come from good families or bad families
and ones who still considered themselves Christian. My twisted logic perverted
the Scripture to make it fit my lifestyle, and I encouraged others to do the
same.
In a moment of quiet desperation,
I decided to try God one more time. I visited a small church in San Francisco
and confessed my sin and confusion to the prayer group. I began the road of
choices that led to freedom. I learned to submit to God. I took responsibility
for my actions and authority over the satanic powers that had held me in bondage
for 17 years.
My freedom was strengthened by
spending time in the Scriptures and attending Bible studies. I
was sustained by long hours of prayer with friends who were committed
to helping me become the woman God intended me to become.
It’s been eight
years since I completely surrendered to God, and He’s responded
by delivering me completely from homosexual orientation and action.
— Darlene Bogle, September 8, 1985
Survey shows 43 percent of church
kids had sex
More than 40 percent of teenagers who attend conservative churches have engaged
in sexual intercourse by the time they are 18, according to a survey released
in February by Josh McDowell Ministries.
The “Teen Sex Survey in the
Evangelical Church” found that although 65 percent of “churched
youth” believed intercourse outside of marriage was never acceptable,
43 percent of those responding to the confidential 4-page questionnaire said
they had had sexual intercourse by their 18th birthday. In other age categories,
35 percent of 17-year-olds reported sexual intercourse and 26 percent of 16-year-olds
said they had had sex.
A greater number, 65 percent, said
they have had some form of sexual contact “beyond hugging and kissing,”
according to a report on the survey in the Evangelical Press News Service.
“That’s in the church,”
McDowell said. “It’s almost identical to the world around us.”
EP News Service said national polls
show that 57 percent of the nation’s 17-year-olds have had sex, as have
46 percent of 16-year-olds and 29 percent of 15-year-olds.
The McDowell poll showed that even
churched teens are uncertain about the moral implications of premarital sex.
Of those surveyed, 36 percent said premarital sex has no moral implications;
more than 20 percent said “sometimes” premarital sex has moral
implications.
Church young people are no strangers
to pornography either, the poll found. In the six months prior to the survey,
12 percent of the teens who responded said they had seen a pornographic picture
or film.
McDowell’s questionnaire
was given to 1,438 kids ages 12-18 in Indiana, Nebraska,
Missouri, Tennessee and New Jersey. Eight evangelical denominations
participated in the survey, which studied teens who regularly
attend church services.
Despite the survey’s findings
that a high percentage of churched teens have engaged in sex, McDowell said:
“I’m convinced that most teens do not want to be sexually active.”
— April 17, 1988
How to have a frank talk with
your children
When talking with your children about sex, keep these guidelines in mind:
1. Make certain an ongoing companionship
is already intact with your children. This means taking time and energy to
be with them, share their thoughts and come to know them as individuals.
2. Speak as a Christian. Many other
voices are speaking to the children — teachers, television personalities,
scout leaders, etc. Many are not talking from the Christian context. The believing
parent comes to the child from the biblical perspective.
3. Chat naturally. Do not be contrived
or artificial. Craft the conversation according to your personality.
4. Speak kindly yet honestly about
the human body. Its development is God’s gift. Don’t speak in
fairy tale language referring to cabbage leaves or storks.
5. Never use obscene language when
referring to sex. Such terms need to be explained if the child asks about
them. Accent the devil’s misuse of the gift of sex by his attempt to
bait humans with lust. Point out the contrast between God’s provision
of the body and Satan’s perversion of its use. Slant according to the
age level of the child.
6. Move into the sex subject only
as far as the child is able to grasp the topic. Do not try to cram in a semester’s
learning in one session.
7. Begin the sex subject conversation
before the children begin to experience bodily changes. Tell them ahead of
time what is going to take place. When
puberty does develop, follow through
with further information — all in the context of sex as God’s
good gift. Emphasize the biblical morality which maintains that goodness throughout
life.
8. Encourage the child to approach
the parent when he or she has questions about sex. Tell the child that any
question can be asked without fear of it being considered out-of-bounds.
9. Treat the sex subject offhandedly
at times. Do not reserve it only for the most serious conversations. By allowing
sex to be one of many conversation topics in life, it will be accepted more
naturally.
— J. Grant Swank, May 7, 1989
