Tasting the Sexual Soup — Part 2
Let’s start by departing from the soup analogy from my previous post and allow me to be a little more direct.
The current sexual reckoning isn’t just happening on Hollywood’s casting couch or in the back offices of media moguls. It’s infiltrated every aspect of society. However, not all men practice sexual misconduct. We need to be careful to not go to the extreme that a male equals a sexual predator. There are good men that don’t make the evening news, attempting to live a noble life of respect, courage and love for others. I say thank you to these men.
Right now, the focus has been on the powerful and famous that have behaved inappropriately for years, in some cases decades. Men that used their position to entice the vulnerable or ambitious for personal sexual gratification. Sadly, this injustice is not limited to the powerful and famous. This perversion is available to anyone who rejects God's moral standards for their own personal moral compass.
I believe that is the heart of our sexual culture. We want to create our own rules. We don't want to keep a standard that we feel restricts our freedom to do what we want to do and be with who we want to be with. And we treat God's standards regarding sexual purity as antiquated nonsense that isn’t relevant to today’s culture.
This perversion is available to anyone who rejects God's moral standards for their own personal moral compass.
How do we reconcile biblical standards with what we desire to do? It’s simple. We discredit the original creator of the moral standard and author a different standard that fulfills our own desires. We make new rules that temporarily ease our conscience long enough for it to form a callus. Then, when facing the consequences of choices, we turn and blame the original creator. That strategy may work in politics, but the consequences of rebellion never change. According to James 1:14-15, our own evil desires conceive sin and then sin gives birth to death. Not exactly the best of outcomes.
In his book, Discipline Equals Freedom, Jocko Willink says that unless we have discipline in our lives, we can't enjoy true freedom. For instance, if you're disciplined in eating healthy and exercising, your body will have the energy, strength, and stamina needed to be fully productive. Failure to be disciplined will result in lower productivity and possibly a shortened life span. Discipline to live a healthy lifestyle allows freedom to actually live life to the fullest. Good ole common sense.
When we lack discipline in simple biblical standards, we become enslaved to that which we thought would bring true freedom.
The story of the prodigal son is a great example. He felt he could leave the standards of his father's house and experience real freedom. In the beginning of his freedom journey, he found everything he was looking for. Yet it didn’t take long for his escapades to leave him broke, hungry, and destitute. It was in his brokenness he realized that he wasn't free but enslaved to the consequences of his choices. He showed enough courage to humble himself and go back to his father’s house. Even though he brought shame and dishonor to his father's name, he was welcomed with open arms by a loving and ecstatic father.
Our culture has resisted to live by basic biblical morals, we find ourselves in bondage to the consequences of our choices. We need to silence the voices of a world gone wild so we can hear the soft whisper of our Heavenly Father calling us. Then we’ll realize it’s not culture’s rebellion, but our own. Our rebellion has enslaved us in chains of consequences and shame. Our journey to true freedom always begins with going back. Have the courage to humble yourself and go to the Father. He’s patiently waiting to extend an outrageous amount of grace and an enormous amount of love.
Fear Not: Fight Well
JT McCraw is the men’s pastor at Bethel World Outreach in Brentwood, TN and the founder of the BE MEN Movement, where he provides oversight for this multi-ethnic, multi-site men’s ministry, focusing on engaging and equipping men to serve Christ. Presently they have locations in Tennessee, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, Alabama and Arizona. JT lives in Franklin, TN with his wife of twenty-four years and their five children. You can follow JT on Twitter @jtmccraw.
