Photo credit by yangamat.com
Has Bieber Fever struck your home?
Across the country, millions of girls are heart sick for 16 year old Justin Bieber. With wispy hair, a cute smile, and popular voice, Justin has quickly become today’s teen heart throb. Girls download all his music to their iPod, can’t get enough of his face, and salivate over his every word.
Because his sphere of influence is so large, I was deeply disappointed by his comments related to sex in the recently released Rolling Stone.
What exactly did he have to say on the topic? When asked if he believed in abstinence until marriage he responded, “I think you should just wait for the person you’re…in love with.”
Great. Now all of the Beliebers who aren’t strong enough, mature Believers truly are going to be sick because their idol has just told them that love is the boundary for sex. Sadly, if girls buy into this cultural lie their chances of walking away from that relationship without true physical disease are not good. After all, one in four people are infected with an STD and more than one in two sexually active singles is already infected with HPV.
Hearing his quote made me think about another teen boy’s question in my new book with Pam Stenzel.
Logan: I don’t understand what the difference is between being married and just being committed to each other. It seems that if you know that you are going to be with the person for the rest of your life, and you are committed to them, that should be enough! Isn’t saying that sex can only be in marriage a little restrictive?
Pam: Before I answer that question, I want you to think about the last “committed relationship” you were in. Or, if you have never been in a serious relationship, I am sure you have a friend or two who have been. Now, if you wanted to END this relationship, how would you do it? Maybe you would have another friend tell the person that you do like them a lot, but would prefer to “back off a little” and be friends? Maybe you would have the courage to attempt to sit down with them face to face and break up that way. I have to believe there are a few of you who might simply suggest texting them or changing your facebook status! Now, if I wanted to “break up” with my spouse, what would it take? ALOT MORE than a heart to heart conversation or a text message. It would take an attorney and half my stuff!
This question kind of reminds me of the question “Can I worship God and be a good Christian but never go to church?” Typically this is about laziness, a lack of real priority for your relationship, and general fear of “tying” yourself down to a community of believers who can encourage you and even hold you accountable for your behavior. It’s like saying “God, I want a relationship with you, but I don’t really want to be WITH you or any of your friends. Can we just keep this private?” Couples who begin to justify “behaving” as if they were married – having all the “perks” of an intimate sexual relationship – with NONE of the responsibility are really saying the same thing. We want the privileges that come with intimacy, but none of the work. Even worse, they are continually communicating a “lie” with their bodies! They are saying “we are one flesh” with their behavior without the covenant to back it up.
Marriage is a covenant. Not a contract. A contract is a legally binding promise made by two persons for the exchange of “goods and services.” A covenant is actually the exchange of PERSONS and is always between persons and GOD!
Hebrews 13:4 advises, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adultery and all the sexually immoral.” Teens must understand that guarding the sacred intimacy created for a husband/wife relationship speaks to the core of their integrity and they will answer for it later – with their spouse, and most importantly, their Lord.
Once the shock waves settle, I will be praying for Justin. All the star power in the world doesn’t make him immune to real physical risk or emotional agony. (And, I genuinely believe with full education he could change his tune. He is a young kid answering big, highly publicised questions.) Even more, though, I’ll be praying for our girls who are listening and influenced by his words. Bieberhearts will be broken hearts if they follow this prominent teen’s (current) line of thought. Let’s do some damage control and teach a message of character their hearts, bodies, faith, and future can trust in:
Love is patient, kind, doesn’t dishonor others, isn’t self-seeking, always protects, and rejoices with the truth (1 Corinthians 13). Love waits.
3 Comments
It’s unfortunate that he made a comment like that. (And ironic that the newspaper published by my church’s denomination featured a story on him this week about his faith in Christ.) Point being, it seems that there are increasing numbers of young people who don’t seem to think that faith in Christ and premarital sex are incompatible. Thanks for this post.
Jennifer recently posted..CMT- Putting Your Endorphins at Risk
Agreed. Sadly, there are a lot of church kids who don’t think that premarital sex is Scripturally wrong.
I believe that Bieber does say that he is a Christian and in the same article he made prolife comments to commend.
BUT, there is confusion when Christians promote anti-biblical messages. This happens all the time. Not just with teens or stars, but given his “star power” talking with our girls to clarify this is CRITICAL!
Melissa Nesdahl recently posted..Wheres Waldo
This makes me sad, especially because he is so young. But it is a great teaching point with older girls. We can use what is happening culturally to point them towards truth, but we have to be aware and pursposeful!
Thanks Melissa!
One Trackback
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Melissa Nesdahl, Stacey29lincoln. Stacey29lincoln said: Oh yeah! @modsquadmoms by @melissanesdahl :: Bieberhearts, Let’s Talk About Love… – http://bit.ly/eRlWay [...]