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. Nor should there
be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but
rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure:
No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. - Ephesians
5:3-5
I find these verses striking. For one, you could read verse 5 and argue
that someone could lose their salvation.
Although I don't believe that theology I am aware that some do. I believe you have to take into account verse
6 and 7 if you are reading this passage in this way. Two, I believe the writer hits the nail on
the head when he says that "such a person is an idolater". I have about convinced myself that any sin is
a form of idolatry. Jesus said (Matthew
22:37) the most important commandment is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your mind." All sin, as best as I can tell, violates
that.
Our culture's massive entertainment industry drives the
following messages in almost every venue it can fit the message into:
homosexuality is okay and normal (even encouraged), teasing and flirting with
sexual intent is expected and normal
(and encouraged), and sex is okay anytime two people agree on it (there are no
consequences). There is no Biblical
basis for any of these. But these are shoved
into my face on every mode of entertainment, even sports and politics. Our church seems to do very little in its
rebuttal to this attack and invasion.
Contrary to when I was a teenager when the girls said
"no" to the pressure of their boyfriends, today's boys have to be
strong enough to say "no".
While I would consider this to be very difficult for our young men, I
believe it puts them in the right leadership role. Of course, I hope they find a girlfriend who
has the same values that I hope my boys have.
It is difficult to be a failed person. It is difficult to have fought for so long
through so much only to find out that you can crack apart. No one
likes to fumble and no one likes to lose.
Through God's grace and mercy, and
my extraordinary wife, my hope is that I might be more than who I could settle
on being, and I can only hope that my boys are much stronger and wiser and can
be much, much, more than I.
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