Fornication? What’s That?—Cohabitation, Part 3

By Lisa Cherry

I have never heard that word used anywhere other than at church. Have you?

Standing in the checkout line with last-minute Valentine’s Day goodies, I don’t expect we’ll see headlines that say: Susie Starlet Fornicates with Her New Man. 

No doubt about it, fornication seems to be an obsolete word from my great grandma’s day. Fornication, the act of sex between two unmarried individuals, has actually become the cultural norm, so much so that we do not even call it what it is.  But that does not mean it is a Kingdom of God norm.

We—and our kids—are bombarded with subtle and not so subtle images of romance and sex outside marriage.  With a majority of today’s adults considering cohabitation morally acceptable and even normal, fornication is the foregone conclusion.

You know how this message plays out. How could we expect anyone to remain “unfulfilled” sexually? After all, science has proven the innate sexual drives and needs we all possess. We just need to make sure the activity is consensual and “safe.”

What if someone were to dare to launch an anti-fornication media campaign?   I cannot even imagine the accusations of “intolerance” and “judgmentalism” that would arise.

And what happens when someone dares to preach to this young generation that sex outside the bonds of marriage is a sin?  George Barna’s research team can tell us. They simply leave the church.

How’s that for a threat? Stop preaching about that sexual sin stuff or I will leave your faith behind, Mom and Dad. 

What are we, as Christian parents, to do? Soften our stance? Re-write the Book where it says that God will judge fornicators?  Tell them they can pick and choose what they believe? Give up?

None of the above will fare well for us when we give an accounting of our parenting assignment to the Lord. We must have the courage to stand for truth. And we must have the ears and the hearts of our children for it to have a hope of effectiveness.

This is causing me to pray. How about you? Good thing our God has seen this pressure before and He knows what to do!

In case you missed them, here are the earlier posts in this series:

Cohabitation: The New Dating?

I Just Live with My Boyfriend Because it is Cheaper,” Cohabitation Part 2