Celibacy in the Twenty-First Century: Dead or Alive?

Sex is a topic that is very difficult to speak to our children about. As a parent we want to believe that what we've taught our children would be enough to get them through life, enough for them to make the right choices, and the right decisions.

Unfortunately, just trying to set an example, give advice and go to church are just not enough ammunition for the children of today to go against the world of today.

Times have changed. Life is not simple any more. As young adults growing into the adult world (ages 16 - 30) face challenges that parents probably don't even think about. In fellowshipping with a few young adults ages 18 - 23 the other night there were questions about sex. One of the young men asked "When is it okay to ask a girlfriend's parents permission for their daughter to go away for a weekend with friends or on vacation with him?"

The group of young adults was young women and men some of whom were Christians and some were not. In this young man's mind, since society has informed him that it is acceptable to sleep with a girl that he's serious with, he didn't think it was a big deal for his girlfriend to go away with him overnight. He couldn't understand why her parents would object. Before I had a chance to respond, one of the Christian young ladies responded "Never! You need to be married." Still the young man could not comprehend.

We began by discussing what the Bible has to say about the topic. We explained that although celibacy is considered something that was done in the past, it still exist in current times. Still, the young man did not seem to understand why it was so wrong. Finally, I said "Ok, let me put it in a way you could probably see from a parent's perspective. If you got married with your girlfriend, you had a daughter who had beautiful curls, rosy cheeks, big brown eyes and a loving smile; you nurtured that child, saw her grow and is now 18 years old. She now comes to you and asks "Dad, this is my boyfriend, some friends of ours are going away for the weekend. Can I please go with my boyfriend and my friends?" What would you say?"