It goes without saying that we live in a diseased culture. Public sins are not only rampant, they are celebrated. In learning how to deal with these problems, though, we have to be careful to treat the causes rather than the symptoms. In our diseased culture, we have to keep digging past professed beliefs in order to find the root cause of those beliefs and treat it if we want to bring about real change.
Let’s use the headlines of the last month as our examples. We’re all familiar with the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision. Not long after that, it was revealed that NFL star quarterback Russell Wilson and his pop singer girlfriend, Ciara, are saving themselves for marriage – “doing things Jesus’ way,” as they put it. While some commentators supported them, they were widely mocked or met with skeptical responses as if to say, “Yeah… good luck with that,” as if the two are aiming to achieve some impossible task. And, yesterday we were reminded again of the evils of Planned Parenthood, perhaps the most wicked organization in human history, as a leaked video showed one of their head doctors discussing the kind of deals they make to sell the organs of aborted children.
To treat the symptoms we would go directly into why homosexuality, fornication, and abortion are wrong, but at their root, all three of those issues are centered on the same core belief – that sex is a fundamental human right and to hold a belief that would deny it to some people is wrong, hateful, or unfair. If the Bible’s teachings about homosexuality are applied, those who find themselves attracted to those of the same sex and disinterested in heterosexual relationships will be required to go throughout life without ever engaging in any kind of sexual activity. To this many protestors have said that if such is the case, they would rather go to hell than be denied that pleasure.
To those who find waiting for marriage unreasonable, they just can’t see how it’s possible to expect two people to actually put off sex. They seem to have no ability to understand how anybody could ever make it all the way to the altar, nor why anybody would want to do so. To them, sex is just what you do, and living without it is completely out of the question.
And, of course, the overwhelming majority of abortions are procured not by married people (or by those in cases of rape or incest, or even in life-saving measures), but by unmarried people in their 20s – generally for the sake of “convenience.” Unwanted children interrupt education, career building, or just having fun, so those children are murdered. Of course, it generally doesn’t even cross people’s minds that they could, you know, just not enter into any sexual relationships until they are ready for children (or – God forbid – marriage). Instead, they believe they have an undeniable right to sex, and if that means killing any unwanted children, so be it.
The truth of the matter is, God has every right to draw the lines for sexual relationships, and He has. As much as some like to claim that Jesus had little to say on these matters, He made it clear in His time on earth that some people are going to have to deny themselves these relationships if they want to obey God (Matthew 19:12). In the Sermon on the Mount, He went so far as to say that cutting off a hand or tearing out an eye would be worth it if that’s what it took to avoid stumbling into hell, and so lust or adulterous relationships are worth sacrificing, too (Matthew 5:27-30). Single people, those who have no Scriptural right to remarry, and anybody else who isn’t in a heterosexual, monogamous marriage are denied a biblical right to sex.
It is because Christ’s words are so distinctly at odds with the culture’s on this matter that it is one of the strongest areas in which we can be lights in a dark world.
As we dig past the symptoms and get to the cause, we see a world that thinks it has all the answers when it comes to finding fulfillment in life. We are a hedonistic generation, seeking pleasure at every turn and making things like sex, sports, drugs, video games, television, and a whole host of other things our idols, for we think they will bring us lasting happiness. Money isn’t even the god it once was, as it seemingly pales in comparison to the god of having a good time. The generation that grew up singing Kurt Cobain’s line “Here we are now, entertain us” has adopted that refrain as a way of life.
So in our efforts to convince people of the truth, we have to make sure we’re aiming for the cause and not just the symptoms. We can (and should) continue to articulate the point that homosexuality, fornication, and abortion are wrong in God’s eyes, but in order to change hearts and minds, we have to show people two key truths.
First, true fulfillment can never be found in the world. Of anything the world might seek to find pleasure in, whether it be sex, money, entertainment, achievement, or anything else, Solomon attained all of that and more. Yet his conclusion remained clear as could be – “All is vanity and striving after wind.” Basically, the entire book of Ecclesiastes is a discussion (and perhaps a celebration) of that point: it’s all a waste of time. We live in a culture that thinks trading sex for obedience to God is a foolish tradeoff. We know for a fact that they’re never going to be satisfied with that decision. STDs, depression, lifelong regrets, and (worst of all) murdered children remind us that God is not mocked, and that man will reap exactly what he sows (Galatians 6:7).
Second, we have to show them that God is all we need. People understand what the Bible says about these matters, and they still say that they’d rather ignore God and pay whatever price there might be than have to give up what they want. Not only do we have to show them that they don’t know what they’re saying, that heaven and hell are beyond anything they’ve imagined, but also that to deny self for Christ is a tradeoff in which no one has ever lost.
We should never be found looking at their lifestyles with longing, knowing all of the “fun” we could be having but have been denied like pitied subjects of a tyrant. No, we have found something better. We know Jesus. Despite exploring every possible source of pleasure, Solomon reached the conclusion that the only way to live a life of meaning is to fear God and keep His commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Paul echoed those sentiments in throwing his entire life filled with accomplishments and prestige in the garbage, saying it was worth it for the opportunity to know Christ (Philippians 3:7-11). We aren’t just trading an eventual ticket to hell for one letting us in to heaven. We’re gaining life abundantly both eternally and here on earth (John 10:10) by knowing Him (John 17:3).
By Jack Wilkie
Jack Wilkie is the author of “Failure: What Christian Parents Need to Know About American Education” and is the speaker for Focus Press’s “The Lost Generation” seminar. To schedule a seminar at your church, contact jack@tampaseo.expert.

[1] – “US Abortion Statistics,” abort73.com – http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/