Mini-Post*

Dan has just posted the following comment about today’s
post, Young Children, Teenagers & the National Day of Silence.   

You say in
your post, “These topics are difficult to talk to adults about, let alone
middle school age children. Yet this is exactly what parents, church leaders
and teachers must do if we are to prepare our children for the world they will
enter.” Why IS IT that these things
are difficult to talk about?
I have some of my own ideas from my personal
experience, but would appreciate your insight.

Dan asks,”Why is it difficult to talk about areas of sexual sin?” Let me suggest at least one
reason for the difficulty, along with a suggestion for overcoming it. The reason
is that it should never be pleasant to talk about things which enslave and
bring condemnation upon so many. These types of sexual sins are indeed an affront
to God and to his people. They are from the darkness and carry the aroma of
death and hell with them. These counterfeit pleasures attempt to draw people
deeper into pain and enslavement. They are attacks on the marriage bed. There
is a sense that we should naturally, as Christians with new hearts, shrink back
from the face of darkness.

The answer to this difficulty is that we should always be
quick to point out the excellencies of God’s truth to our children, even when
this truth is negatively illustrated. The father in Proverbs chapter 7 seized
upon the opportunity to show his son the dance of deception playing right in
front of the window of their home. The young fool on the street was enticed and
led into a deadly snare. God’s word was not something that he wore around his
neck with honor. The father in Proverbs 7 is “telling it like it is.” He gives his
son a play-by-play of this grim scene. He is not squeamish. He did not withhold
the truth from his child.  As Christians
we should not shrink back from identifying those things which endanger our
children. In this sense we must be
prepared to talk openly and directly about sexual sin when God providentially
“opens a window” for us to do so.

I fear Christians often reverse these two responses. We
often have itching ears and wandering eyes, just looking for some tidbit of
scandal to be devoured. This is the down side of 24 hour cable news. Then, when
we do have the opportunity to speak plainly about sexual sin we shrink back,
afraid of the scorn of the world around us. We don’t want to be embarrassed in
front of our children by talking about sexual sin. This is an example of
fearing man more than God.

Well, Dan, there is my first take on your comment. I’m sure
other factors come to mind. What are these ideas of yours about this topic?

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