Apples of Gold
Radio Script for August 20, 2008
“Is Someone’s Sexual Immorality Any of Our Business?”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
“Two please, nonsmoking.”
“Oh, the whole restaurant is nonsmoking. In fact, you can’t smoke in any restaurant in the state.”
That’s what we heard when we first moved to Florida. It was a surprise because it wasn’t that way back in Illinois – until this year. Now they have smoking laws that are tougher than Florida’s. Kids can’t even smoke in the dorms anymore.
Now wait a minute. With so many preaching that we must keep government out of the bedroom, how can we ban kids from smoking in their dorm room?
Oh well. These new laws would have thrilled the old time preachers. They used to preach against smoking with a vengeance, saying it was a subtle device of Satan to ruin mankind.*
If there would have been late-night TV shows they would have mocked these preachers for their ridiculous stand against smoking. Now the tide has turned and society at large sees the damage smoking causes and we’re passing laws to restrict it.
On the other hand, we don’t want to restrict anything that has to do with sex. Keep government out of the bedroom, they say. (Unless you are a dorm kid trying to sneak a Marlboro.)
Meanwhile, sexually transmitted diseases are taking their toll. The New York Times reports that the number of AIDS cases has risen “significantly” among a certain subgroup of men in the last few years.** But you sure don’t want to be the jerk that tells these men to stop doing that.
Another report in the New York Times shows that one in four teenage girls has an STD, and almost half of the African American teenage girls has one.*** But you sure don’t want to be the jerk that brings up abstinence.
And these statistics don’t show the whole picture. What about the emotional fallout? All the entanglements. All this giving yourself away, sacrificing your dignity, anything to make yourself feel good, if only for a moment.
Society is seeing the light about smoking, and we’re passing laws to restrict it. I wonder how long it will take us to see the light about sexual immorality?
I know, I know. There is a tidal wave, and it’s going the other way. Our culture is more hyper-sexed than ever, and clamoring for more. And if you dare speak out against it, well, aren’t you the prude? Why don’t you get off your high horse and join the party?
Instead of passing laws to restrict people’s behavior, there is talk of passing laws to restrict people who speak out against it. And the funny thing is, it’s called hate speech.
Here you are, trying to help people by teaching them how to be sexually moral, which will help them avoid so much pain and sorrow – I mean sexual immorality causes so much damage and trouble – and yet you are accused of hatred.
So why are we restricting smoking and not sexual immorality? If we are all about the freedom, then what about the freedom to smoke?
“Oh Doug, you can’t even compare the two.”
That’s right. Sexually immorality causes so much more damage to individuals than smoking.
“But Doug, you can’t legislate morality.”
No, what you legislate is actions. You pass laws against actions that are harmful to society.
“But you can’t control people like that.”
Look at all the people who are in jail for having marijuana. You don’t even have to smoke it or sell it. If you just have it. If it’s just a decorative plant, you can find yourself in the pokey.
“So are you advocating jail time for sexual immorality?”
What I want to do is call attention to it. First of all, I want to say that there is such a thing as sexual immorality. We need to call attention to it, and we need to steer people away from it.
Look at Hebrews 12:16. It says, “See that no one is sexually immoral…”
That is a huge statement. “See that no one is sexually immoral.” Who is it talking about? People in the church? People in your family? The population at large?
I think it’s talking about anyone you care about, because sexual immorality hurts people. It causes damage. When something hurts someone you love, you try to keep them away from it.
Now how to do that, I don’t know. I’m not ready to lobby for sexual immorality laws, and our nation certainly isn’t ready for that. The disease rates will have to skyrocket before our society will dare pass any such restrictions.
But that verse in Hebrews is pretty clear. We must take responsibility to steer others away from sexual immorality. They may say it’s nobody’s business, but the Bible says it is. It is our business to see that no one is sexually immoral.
It starts with us. Then it goes to our family. We must work to keep our family members sexually moral. We need this in the church. We need to define biblically what is sexually moral, then work to keep everyone on the right side of the line.
I know our culture is demanding that it’s none of your blankety-blank business. But so what? It is. The Bible says it is. And not to be prudish and hateful, but to be loving and caring. To prevent the damage that results from sexual immorality.
Look, if it’s the compassionate thing to restrict smoking, then it is certainly the compassionate thing to do like it says in Hebrews 12:16 – to “see that no one is sexually immoral.”
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
* From the book “Good Words” edited by Norman Macleod and Donald Macleod, published in 1880.
** http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/health/research/27hiv.html?scp=3&sq=gay&st=nyt
*** http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E6D6113BF931A25750C0A96E9C8B63
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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