You’d have to be living in a cave in Outer Mongolia not to notice how everybody is talking about sex these days. It seems to be the focal point of practically every conversation. Unfortunately, those with the loudest voices hail from Hollywood.
Many of the male characters in today’s movies and television shows are depicted as horny guys with stunted personalities, traveling through life with nothing more on their minds than girls—and getting some sexual action. The writers of these sexually charged films and sitcoms build their plots around a simple yet familiar formula: Boy meets Girl, Boy chases Girl, Boy gets Girl in bed, Boy and Girl have lots of fun. Boy and Girl experience no guilt and no consequences as they ride off into the sunset in their azure blue BMW M3 ragtop. Roll the credits.
But in the real word, sex is never quite as simple as the media would have us believe. Hollywood producers love showing us the night of passion, but they conveniently bypass the reality of the morning after: the feelings of remorse, the girl waking up to realize she was nothing more than a convenient object for fulfilling a guy’s sexual desire, the visit to a doctor’s office because a former sexual partner said it would be a good idea to get checked, or the ominous phone message from a girlfriend who thinks she’s pregnant.
So why is the portrayal of sex so far from reality? The fact is, Hollywood—and our sex-crazed culture—has turned its back on God’s advice and tried to reverse centuries of biblical principles. According to Hollywood’s credo, being good (like staying out of bed before marriage) is actually bad for you, but being bad (as in indulging in frequent premarital sex) is actually good for you.
Our Creator knew this would happen. Several centuries ago the prophet Isaiah quoted God as saying, “Destruction is certain for those who say that evil is good and good is evil; that dark is light and light is dark; that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter” (Isaiah 5:20, NLT).
Maybe you’ve begun to question the truth of the messages you’ve been hearing. Maybe you suspect that sex is a bit more complicated and dangerous than you realized—either because of personal experience or seeing the impact on your friends. The fact that you are holding this book means that you are at least willing to hear what God has to say about sex, and that’s good news, because He sure has a lot to say. He has given us clear direction on everything from how we should treat the opposite sex to how and why we should abstain from sexual activity until marriage.
Keep in mind, though, that God is not some big killjoy in the sky, wanting to put a damper on your attempts at fun. First and foremost, His words are those of a loving Creator who wants to spare His children—you and her—the agony that sexual sin can bring. He wants to spare us the emotional pain of the morning after and the physical distress from sexually transmitted diseases that inevitably arise from promiscuous sexual encounters—or that seven-pound “surprise” nine months later. God only wants the best for us, a better future that includes “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope,” as His Word states in Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV).
As you will read in the following pages, the Lord of the universe delivers some straight talk about sex that goes against what you’ve been hearing. God doesn’t go for that if-it-feels-good-do-it stuff, nor does He let us make up our minds based on which way today’s cultural winds happen to be blowing. Instead, God’s standard for sexual purity can be captured in a single Bible verse: “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity” (Ephesians 5:3, NIV).
For young single guys, that verse may prompt some challenging questions. What does a “hint” mean? How far can you go with a girl when you’re alone? How far can you go with yourself when you’re alone?
These are great questions, and you’ll receive some straight answers in Every Young Man’s Battle Guide.