Of Straw Men and Shameful Speech, Part 3

Today we’re going to wrap up this mini-series which responds to arguments that advocate for pastors to engage in sexually explicit dialogue with Christian married couples. We’ve already taken a look at the mistaken notion that the current age is uniquely porn-saturated compared to past years. Then we examined the claim that explicit sexual dialogue is necessary for Christians with an immoral past need to deal helpfully with those past issues.

Finally, we come to address two further arguments.

(3) Most pastors—especially those over 45 and “bound up” in the conservative sexual practices of past, less informed generations—are clueless about the sexual “hang-ups” young couples face today, or they are simply afraid to offer the frank dialogue essential for building a healthy sexual life in marriage.

This is probably the most blatant straw man being peddled today as justification for explicit sex-counsel.  Honestly, I’m stunned at how quickly some pastors have embraced this assumption.  The challenges of a sin-cursed intimate life are, at their core, the same in every generation.  Why?  Because we’re all sin-cursed!  Victorian inhibitions of the past—though they restrained sexuality in the public square—were no power against private fleshly lusts of the heart.  The sinner’s battle with lust is universal no matter what cultural norms are deemed appropriate for public consumption.  The lack of moral restraint in public doesn’t create lust in the heart, but gives opportunity to what’s already there (Mark 7:18-23).   Continue at Jerry Wragg