shaycam

In a recent blog on teenagers and abstinence (found here), I was simply concerned by what I was reading from this man. His post has received many comments and opinions, and I’m no different. This guy claims to be a Believer, which may true, but his view of Scripture is poor in my opinion. His basic thrust comes down to what I believe is his thesis for the post; he writes:

What does all this hiding get us? Psychological reactance. A need to lash out against the rules and to disobey them to an extent we never would if the rules weren’t even there in the first place.

He is basically saying that teenage and young Christians engage in sexual impurity before they are married because they feel the need to go against the rules. He calls it “Psychological reactance,” when in reality, it’s called sin. I amazed at what I read anymore from people are claiming Christ. I understand if the news misses the boat about sin, because the people reporting are not claiming the name of Christ. But this guy is. And furthermore he explains how he grew up in a “conservative Christian church”… and that he is now a “liberal Christian.” Interesting self evaluation. Let me get back to my point.

Be discerning young people. The reason you desire to have sex is good in it’s nature. The Lord has placed that in the heart of man, but when we decided to take that desire and act on it outside of the will of the Lord (which is marriage), it is sin. There’s not other word for it. By trying to call it “Psychological reactance,” you are simply trying to justify your sin. Let me be clear. The writer of the post doesn’t claim to believe that pre-marital sex is OK, but he never explicitly says its wrong. Yet, if we read the Scripture we know that sex is something that is saved for marriage. It is exclusive to marriage.

Young people are being targeted every day by the media, commercials, marketing, and others to engage in sexual impurity. It’s all around them and the pressure is definitely not letting up. But what does Psalm 119:9 say:

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.

Be pure and be discerning. Never let the world’s thoughts change your view of Scripture or tempt you to engage in this sin.

LA Fever, originally uploaded by shaycam.

I’ve been getting a fever lately for my L.A. Dodgers. We went to our second game this season and I took a few pics. And I threw in a little Dodger logo for an added touch :).

I must admit that I am sick today. Yes, physically ill due to the flu or some kind of sinus infection, but also sick of the news. Normally I am not one to blog or respond to the news or the current events. I believe that the people who read shaycam aren’t necessarily interested in hearing about the things that are all over the news, but want to hear something different. Which is the basis for my thoughts today which I am nicely titling “deconstruction.”

In an article by Fox News published yesterday (04/18/07), the writer poses the question “Did the Devil Make Him Do It?” Of course we all know who she is talking about, the now famous Cho Seung-Hui who went on a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech earlier this week. In the article she asks different “theologians” about the possibility of satanic influence or control of this man which may have caused him to commit such a horrible act. The writers thesis makes sense. Basically she just wants to know why we (an American culture) seem to turn to psychology for the answers when something like this happens. I’ll add now that I think it’s funny that they don’t really ever have an answer, or they have so many answers we don’t know which one to choose. So, I can understand the basis of her writing the article. Yet she continues on asking these different theologians what they think about the possibility of demon possession as opposed to some kind of depression or mental illness that Cho Seung-Hui may have had. This is where I felt I needed to clear some things up.

I am not opposed to asking the question about demon possession. Honestly, demon possession is real. It’s a real thing in Scripture and I believe that it can be a real thing today. BUT, and I stress, I believe those situations are rare today. As I watch and read the news of this story, everyone is looking for an answer. Most of the time it seems that people are trying to excuse this man in some way. “He was mentally ill… he was in a state of depression… he had been ‘sick’ for a while…” These are the kinds of things we are hearing. And for that matter, the news has gone as far as to show us pictures and video to almost exalt his actions. I’m sick of the excuses. I’m sick of hearing that we can’t “blame” him, but that it was something outside of himself that was “controlling” what he did. Listen. Sin is a real thing in this life. Sin is something we do! Sin can be defined as going against the direct command of God. But I’m not hearing about this man’s sin. We have no problem with men in the middle east blowing themselves up every day for their religious cause, and believing they were in their right mind when they committed the act. But as soon as something like this happens in our country, we blame the brain. We don’t want him to be at fault, because we don’t want to be at fault for the sin we commit every day. But you know what the Bible says, “… all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And the truth is, sin has one final result: death (Romans 6:23). That is, separation from God for eternity. Cho Seung-Hui fell short. Yes, his act was crude and horrible, but he fell short…. and so do you, and so do I.

But that’s the beauty of the Gospel! This is the reason why Jesus Christ, the son of God, a perfect man died. Though he lived a sinless life, he paid the penalty that was due us for our sin. He took the blame on himself, so we could live eternally and not be separated from God. When we fell short, Christ didn’t. In the midst of our sin, we can have hope. We can have hope that if we trust in Christ as our Savior, if we believe he is the Son of the true living God, he will save us. He will save us from the sin “that so easily entangles” us. He could’ve saved Cho Seung-Hui, but now it’s too late. Cho Seung-Hui is experiencing separation from God in a real way today. But if you’re reading this, it’s not too late. There is still time for you to learn of the grace of the God of the Bible. Time to hear of his forgiving nature and why he is the redeemer of our sin. I am walking proof of the forgiveness and grace of God. He saved me from my sin and placed in right standing before Himself. Now my eternity is secure.

That’s why I can’t believe the news, because it just doesn’t line up with what I read in Scripture. It doesn’t make sense to believe that we won’t be held responsible for our sin, because the Bible teaches the opposite.

If you have questions, please feel free to leave me a comment, I am happy to share more with anyone who might have questions. Thanks for taking the time to deconstruct some thoughts and hopefully get some clarity on all of this.

Someone really needs to buy me this shirt.