2/5/23

Last night in high school Evan ate a pig in a blanket whilst wrapped in a blanket himself (blanket-ception?), took prayer requests and prayed for one another, and then we kicked off our series on Christian Sexuality by talking about the authority of God and Scripture!

Whenever we approach a topic like human sexuality (or any other “hot button” conversation for that matter) we have to start by affirming the authority of the Bible. If we try to have this conversation without this common foundation, it has a high chance of quickly devolving into opinions and anecdotes instead of helpful conversation.

We took some time to watch the student video, and then I spent a few minutes outlining some of my hopes for this series. I sincerely hope that this series will serve as a way for our students to hear the beautiful and biblical truth that they are God’s image-bearers, and when we fully understand that it changes everything - especially how we view sex and sexuality.

I also don't want this series to seem judgemental or critical. Statistics show that about 54% of students between the ages of 15 and 19 have had some kind of “sexual experience.” While those may not be 100% accurate for our group, the last thing I want is for a student to leave this series afraid that they are irredeemable or unforgivable. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and his plan for sex is a good one that we tend to mess up often. Next week we are going to continue laying the theological foundation for this conversation by focusing on shame and forgiveness, how conviction is different from shame, and how forgiving ourselves is often harder than believing that God has forgiven us.

At the core of this, I feel compelled to teach this material because I love your students, and I wish someone had offered this kind of grace-filled yet unwavering truth to me when I was in high school. If we keep things like porn or masturbation as “unmentionables” in our homes and churches, we can be sure that they are being mentioned elsewhere.

You can find the parent page for next week at this link, and I will be praying for you and your students as we navigate this topic together!

Have a wonderful week!