When I was in college, a popular evangelical author/speaker came to my school for a 3-day crusade. There were posters and fliers announcing his coming, and a lot of build up to the event among the Christian organizations. I don't remember the substance of the talks, but I still recall the advertising method after all these years
Many of the posters announced in bold letters, "Maximum Sex". Yeah, the old bait-and-switch tactic. I guess they thought if you want to attract the college crowd, what better way to do it than with sex. The speaker shared the gospel along with the message of abstinence, but it was primarily "be chaste for what you eventually get." This sounds like the prosperity gospel to me. Unfortunately this methodology was the norm then and is even today. Whether it is conscious or not, this reasoning agrees with the secular view that sexual fulfillment is the be all and end all. I'm not denying God's good gift for marriage, but where is Jesus in all of this? And besides, is there even scriptural support for this argument?
Paul doesn't call the Corinthian believers to flee sexual immorality because they will be rewarded with conjugal felicity in this life. Rather he tells them they belong to God. They were bought with the blood of Jesus, and because of their union with Christ, the Holy Spirit can enable them to glorify God with their bodies. All believers, singles and marrieds, are included in this admonition. As an aside, I would add that single believers don't need to wait for a future state to be "complete". We are whole human beings now because our identity is in Christ.
So can we please stop selling the gospel short and ditch the purity prosperity message once and for all? Union with Christ seems sufficient incentive to me.
I recommend "Bought with a price", a sermon on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 from my pastor, Ryan Davidson.
Also this post is worth reading: I don't wait anymore.
Many of the posters announced in bold letters, "Maximum Sex". Yeah, the old bait-and-switch tactic. I guess they thought if you want to attract the college crowd, what better way to do it than with sex. The speaker shared the gospel along with the message of abstinence, but it was primarily "be chaste for what you eventually get." This sounds like the prosperity gospel to me. Unfortunately this methodology was the norm then and is even today. Whether it is conscious or not, this reasoning agrees with the secular view that sexual fulfillment is the be all and end all. I'm not denying God's good gift for marriage, but where is Jesus in all of this? And besides, is there even scriptural support for this argument?
Paul doesn't call the Corinthian believers to flee sexual immorality because they will be rewarded with conjugal felicity in this life. Rather he tells them they belong to God. They were bought with the blood of Jesus, and because of their union with Christ, the Holy Spirit can enable them to glorify God with their bodies. All believers, singles and marrieds, are included in this admonition. As an aside, I would add that single believers don't need to wait for a future state to be "complete". We are whole human beings now because our identity is in Christ.
So can we please stop selling the gospel short and ditch the purity prosperity message once and for all? Union with Christ seems sufficient incentive to me.
I recommend "Bought with a price", a sermon on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 from my pastor, Ryan Davidson.
Also this post is worth reading: I don't wait anymore.
So true. Yes, yes!
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