A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way.
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| Preachin's Blog A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way. |
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Friday, March 26, 2004 It takes a villageThis is the famous phrase which Hiliary Clinton titled her maverick socialist manifesto in 1996. Now my comments will not along the lines of her poor thoughts in the book, rather I seek to borrow the phrase to discuss the matter of the True Love Waits campaign. My experience with TLW began on Halloween weekend of October 1993. I attended a weekend retreat for TLW with my youth group from my home church. We met with a bunch of other youth groups in seaside hotal and had an excellent time. I remember I was horribly sick for most of the weekend, yet I still was able to hear and make my commitment for sexual abstinence until I got married. (Several years later I went to a follow-up event for the "Through the Roof" TLW campaign and signed a card which I still carry around in my wallet) I was a freshman in high school at the time of this first weekend. Since that time, and of course since before that time, I have remained committed to the pledge I signed on that night. Now I know that many of my friends also remained committed to their pledge, and many of them faltered. Several of my friends from that weekend are now involved in happy, committed marriage relationships and were able to tell their spouse (and have reciprocated) that they held true to this pledge for them. A recent study about teenage abstinence pledges had some supposedly sad news for those proponents of the TLW campaigns. I read it when it came out and, honestly, was not surprised by the findings. Yet as I contemplated the implications I began to sit back and think about the matters not being addressed by the study. These pledges are signed by youth, the majority from the seventh grade to the tenth grade, who are not aware of their future plans nor future circumstances. Now I fully believe that they sign these pledges with good intentions, and honest Christian convictions. No one should doubt their motives. Yet the raw data (I believe) accurately reflects the current state of affairs in Christendom with our youth, and now young adults. What should our response to this be I then asked myself? I believe that the largest failing in our churches in this regard is failing to be an authentic Christian community and help support those pledgees. Of course each person must make their own decisions and when they willfully break their pledge the burden falls squarely on their shoulders, but as a body of Christ the burden should also be assessed in some way to us. We as the body of Christ have a commitment to help edify, nuture, train, keep accountable, love, and pray for all those making the pledge. Our country and society is set up to make young people fall into sexual sin. Our churches need to be places where sexuality is properly taught, understood, exstoled, and exampled. As a body of Christ I believe our biggest failures in this regard are:
If we wish to see higher rates of young people devoted to maintaining this kind of pledge, we can't expect them to sign a card and just keep it without any help or assistance. It is our obligation to be a village and community of authentic Christians to help our young people along. posted by Preachin Jesus | 4:33 PM | |
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