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Day 12
Does Love = Sex (Part Two)
By Al Menconi
Is
today’s
media shaping our values about sex and
love? I believe so. Let me give you a couple
of examples to illustrate what I mean.
One evening, my wife and I were enjoying
a "Night
Under The Stars" picnic and concert
at our community park. One of the songs
on the program of big band favorites
was an old standard from the 1940's called "Why
Do You Do Me Like You Do, Do, Do?"
During the song, I heard audible gasps
and giggles from some of the young teens
in the audience. It was obvious that
they thought the song was about having
sex because in today's music jargon, "do
me" is another term for sex. The
song is actually about being hurt by
someone you love, but these young people
didn't hear that. They've been conditioned
by their music to think about sex every
time they hear the expression, "do
me." They were surprised and embarrassed
to hear these "old-timers" singing
about “sex” like that!
Another example of conditioning our
children this way can be found in the
TV program "Married With Children,” now
in syndication. Their theme song is the
old chestnut by Frank Sinatra called "Love
and Marriage." Remember the lyric? "Love
and marriage/Love and marriage/Go together
like a horse and carriage." When
Frankie first sang this song, everyone
knew that love led to marriage.
So is "Married With Children" promoting
traditional values? Not on your life!
They work hard to mock marriage and family
life with degrading humor and off-color
comments. The song adds to the mockery,
by being a sarcastic counterpoint to
old-fashioned values. Older folks may
not get it at first, but our younger
generation has been educated to distrust
love. They pick up on the cynical contradiction
right away. Today's entertainment does affect
us. It can teach us to see life in a
very specific way, and it's not God's
way.
What can you do? First, make sure you
have a correct view of love. Jesus' example
of love is completely different to what
you’re hearing in today’s
music and other forms of entertainment. “For
God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son…” (John
3:16) God’s demonstration of love
is sacrificial giving. Further, the Bible
says love does not seek its own gratification,
does not delight in wrongdoing, and will
always be faithful (1 Cor. 13:5-7). This
should be more easily understood by this
audio/video generation since the advent
of Mel Gibson’s movie, The
Passion of the Christ.
Paul also cautions Christians to flee
from sexual immorality because "...your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,
Who is in you, Whom you have received
from God. You are not your own; you were
bought at a price. Therefore honor God
with your body" (1 Cor. 6:18 -20).
Examine your music and entertainment
to see if it is contradicting the biblical
definition of love. Love songs used to
be about going to any lengths to show
how important the other person was. Today
much of the music simply says "Do
Me." It's not about love or commitment.
It's about selfish impulses and temporary
pleasure. No wonder it's so difficult
for today’s generation to understand
commitment and faithfulness!
Finally, take the time to discuss the
difference between love and sex with
your family and/or friends. Don't assume
they understand these ideas the same
way you do. Remind them that Christians
do not think sex is "dirty." It's
an intimate, beautiful thing between
two truly committed people in a marriage
committed to God. What really makes sex
dirty is "doing it" with disregard
for your partner's feelings, as demonstrated
in today's music. Don't let a selfish,
loveless world define your expression
of love.
Reflection: What
are you entertaining yourself with? Can
your own entertainment hold up under
the same scrutiny you put on others?
Do you really believe that entertainment
doesn’t affect you?
Response: Parents,
when was the last time you talked with
your children about love, sex, and dating?
Is this discussion the primary responsibility
of the church, school, their friends,
or the parents? If you’re single
discuss this with a spiritually mature
Christian adult.
Verse of the Day: 2 Corinithians 10:5
"We demolish
arguments and every pretension that
sets itself up against the knowledge
of God, and we take captive every thought
to make it obedient to Christ.quot; (NIV)
Reread this verse slowly. This is where
the Spiritual War is won or lost. The
first part encourages us to demolish
(destroy) arguments and EVERY pretension
that sets itself against the knowledge
of God. Consider your entertainment,
does it offer another “truth” than
God’s Truth? For example, does
it show a morality that is abhorrent
to biblical morality? Does it indicate
that there is a better way than God’s
Way? Or that God doesn’t care?
This verse doesn’t tell us to
run from those arguments, but to demolish
and defeat them. We do this with reason,
common sense, and the Truth of God’s
Word. It also stands to reason if we
are to defeat these arguments, we shouldn’t
be welcoming them into our homes and
lives as friends. We need to remember
these arguments are wrong shallow answers
instead of what the Bible says is Truth.
The second part of the verse reinforces
the first part when it says we should
take every thought captive and make it
obedient to Christ. The battle is for
our thoughts. Sometimes, it is a daily
(sometimes hourly) battle to focus our
thoughts on life from His perspective.
Realizing we struggle with our thoughts,
Satan will use any means to compound
the problem. An excellent way for Satan
and his dominion to get into our thoughts
is through today’s entertainment.
Think about what you are allowing in
your mind through your entertainment.
This verse says we are to capture our
thoughts and train them to be like Christ’s.
This will be very difficult, even impossible,
if we keep allowing the empty thoughts
of this world entertain us.
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