Wednesday, February 2, 2001
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Wednesday, February 2, 2001 |
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Power of the no-sex pledge is amazing By REV JOHN HATCHER There's one faith-based initiative that's caught the eye of those in the secular arenas and it didn't cost the federal government one thin dime. Believe it or not, it started among Southern Baptists churches in 1993 with teenagers pledging that they will abstain from sex until they are married. In a report by the National Institutes of Health released late last year, they documented that "pledging delays intercourse for a long time." Now get this: Columbia University researchers Peter Bearman and Hannah Bruckner said "the delay effect is substantial and robust." More than 2.5 million adolescents have taken the pledge to remain virgins until marriage. So very many of us had begun to accept defeat in this matter of teen sex. We almost bought that argument that teens and sex were natural. It was as if teens having sex was not sinful but only a reflection of hormonal realities. But, thank God, some youth ministers understood that what was needed was positive peer pressure and the power of the pledge. As a result, according to secular research, teenagers who make the pledge remain virgin 18 months longer than teens that do not make the pledge. That's the average. Thousands of teenagers, however, are reaping the rewards of their pledge as they give themselves for the first time to their spouse. No longer is it an embarrassment to proclaim, "I am a virgin." That's the way it should have been for a long time. I remember the little antidote of a virgin talking to a non-virgin: "I can always be like you. But you can never again be like me." We as parents must celebrate our children in their pledges to remain virgins. At our church we even had our youth to come forward to declare their commitments as we applauded. But, what about the teenager who has already lost his/her virginity. I invite those teenagers to consider the idea of "spirituality virginity." While they can never be a virgin in the physical sense, they can admit their sin of sex outside of marriage, repent of it, and receive God's wonderful forgiveness. God promises to separate us from our sins as far as the east is from the west. In my way of looking at it, that teenager has become "clean" all under again. First John 1:9 declares, "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness (meaning all un-rightness). When couples come to me for marriage, I ask, "have you ever had sex together?" Most say, "Yes." Then I ask, "have you ever prayed together?" They respond, "O heavens no, we haven't gone that far." In the course of counseling, I ask them to repent of their immorality and not engage in sex until their wedding night. All have made the commitment and from the twinkle in their eyes on wedding day, I sense they had kept their pledge. We must forsake this phobia of asking people to make commitments for heavenly causes.
Rev. Dr. John Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge Community Church in Fayetteville. |
