Once seen as restricted to those within a marriage relationship, sex is now often viewed as recreation regularly detached from the concepts of commitment or love. “One look at patterns of emerging adults’ sexual activity makes it clear that marriage is no longer a gatekeeper to sexual relations (Simmons). Instead of marking the beginning of a healthy sex life, marriage is frequently portrayed within current media as its end.
I came across an article that I wanted to share with my readers. Thom Rainer is the President and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources. He has written several books including Essential Church.
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If you think that “Youth Groupers” are any better due to pledges and purity conferences, then you might be surprised at the facts. Robert Wuthnow, professor of sociology at Princeton University has discovered that even those who believe sex outside of marriage to be wrong, may not be living by their own standards. “When all unmarried adults in this age range were compared, 63 percent of those who thought premarital sex was always wrong acknowledged having had sexual relations in the past year” (Wuthnow). Changes within our society have made it much more difficult for people to remain sexually pure. The time between the physical development of sexual urges and the age to seek fulfillment of those urges has increased.
Since the pendulum of physical maturity and the pendulum of adult responsibility are swinging farther and farther apart, they will have to wait longer and longer from the time of puberty until the time when they have the opportunity to marry and begin the sexual relationship God intends for them. (Moore)
Premarital sex, cohabitation, and hook-ups have become the new sexual norms. Emerging adults now feel the freedom to experiment and find their sexual identity, rather than becoming locked into a committed relationship. Accompanying this sexual freedom is a new set of problems that the emerging adult must overcome. Smith discusses the dark side of this sexual freedom when he states, “not far beneath the surface appearance of happy, liberated emerging adult sexual adventure and pleasure lies a world of hurt, insecurity, confusion, inequality, shame, and regret” (Smith 2011). Emotional damage is not the only difficulty that sexual freedom has brought emerging adults, but it can also result in disrupting their community when sexual relationships end.
The article calls the church toward change, and yet holding to the community’s beliefs. However, it fails to explain what that looks like. As always, it is easier to point out problems than to deliver solutions.
I will discuss the road towards solutions for how the church should respond in my next entry. It is not an easy road, nor will all agree on the path to get there, but should that keep us from the journey?
References:
Thom Rainer and Sam Rainer, Essential church. Reclaiming a generation of dropouts.
Christian Smith, Lost in transition: The dark side of emerging adulthood.
Walker Moore, Rite of passage parenting: Four essential experiences to equip your kids for life
Robert Wuthnow, After the baby boomers. How twenty- and thirty-somethings are shaping the future of American religion
Brian Simmons, Wandering in the wilderness. Changes and challenges to emerging adults’ Christian faith.
