5. Confusion about Sexuality Issues
We, and our young people, live in a highly sexualised culture. The multiplicity of technology devices and freely available internet access means that there is almost unencumbered access to digital pornography.
The prevalence of dating apps and the prevailing assumption that sexual relations are simply to be seen as recreational fun is starkly different to the belief that sexual relationship is an expression of physical unity within a covenant relationship.
We are all immersed in a culture that values hyper-sexuality over chastity and respect. Young Christians are struggling with how to live meaningful lives in terms of sex and sexuality; where many find identity in their sexual “freedom” and the encouragement to choose their own gender identity.
One of the significant tensions for many young believers is how to live up to the expectations of chastity and sexual purity in this culture, especially as the age of first marriage is now commonly delayed to the late twenties. Research indicates that most young Christians are likely to be as sexually active as their non-Christian peers. This often results in sexual guilt being repressed and a potential double life of pretending purity but secret promiscuity.
Young people are also confused about attitudes to LGBTQI people and are perplexed about the relationship between love, acceptance, and affirmation. Our 2021 culture is shaped by a reverence for open-mindedness, tolerance, and acceptance. There seems to be an inability to realise that we can love one another without affirming wrong relationship and behaviour.
Many young people are trapped in a seeming conflict of choice between faith and friends. The pressures are enormous, and the genuine conversations are few.
Blessings
Brian