I recently read an author who spoke of the outright cheapening of marriage through easy, no-fault divorce (he also mentioned the American State-dominated system). The author’s comment reminded me of the popular, profaning, and cheapening practice of whore-hunting, commonly called “the dating scene.” Many who call themselves Reformed or Calvinist also engage in this fashionable-yet-wicked practice where “boyfriends” and “girlfriends” engage in “loving” (cf. Romans 13:8-10) physical contact outside the bonds of life-long marital commitment.
The aforementioned Reformed or Calvinist do not consider this practice a wicked defilement of the marriage bed at all, but a matter of “Christian conscience and liberty” (cf. Hebrews 13:4). True Christians are to abhor and eschew such wickedness, since they have been bought at a price and their body is not their own, but a temple of the Holy Spirit of God (cf. Isaiah 6:1-3; John 12:37-41; 1 Corinthians 6:13-20).
Excerpts related to the subject of this post:
“The socialization that comes with congregate-setting schooling one of the BEST reasons to STAY AWAY from it! What kind of socialization do children get in congregate-setting schools? Cliques, popularity contests, dances, ostracizing and making fun of those who are different, emphasis on looks and fashion, the wicked boyfriend-girlfriend and dating scene, sexual talk, immodest dress, fitting in, bullying and being bullied, and on and on. THAT’S the ‘great socialization’ that congregate-setting-schooled children are getting. We want our children to have no part of that, and any parents who want their children to be part of that are actually hating their children. No, our children don’t have a prom — and they don’t have any of the other junk as well. They were just thanking us the other day for not sending them out into congregate-setting schools. And we told them that it’s because we love them and are being obedient to God in the raising of our children.” (SOURCE)
And:
“How many times have you heard jokes and stories, even from the pulpit, about being attracted to a woman, and that attraction is seen as innocent? How many times have we heard the prevailing view that teenagers’ attractions to those of the opposite sex are good and should be encouraged? Yet Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:22 to flee youthful lusts! How many times have we heard the words ‘sexy’ or ‘cute’ or ‘good-looking’ when one person describes another person of the opposite sex? These words betray a thought life that is full of filth.
So, Marc, what are you saying? Are heterosexual attractions sin? It’s not me who said it; it’s Christ who said it. Of course, he was not talking about such attraction within the bonds of a man and a woman who are committed to each other for life, for we find in other places that the marriage bed is not sinful, and thus those thoughts are not sinful in that context. But everything outside of this commitment is wickedness.
Does the dating scene encourage such wickedness? Definitely. Do church formals and dances encourage such wickedness? Definitely. Do singles ministries encourage such wickedness? Definitely. These are things of the world that have no place in Christian circles.” (SOURCE)
Agrammatos 