Purity Means Seeing More, Not Less
by Brian Walker, TGC:
I grew up in the 80s and 90s when the war on drugs was in full swing. The federal government poured a lot of money into ad campaigns to combat drug use among young people. The “Just Say No” campaign was pervasive. It was on T-shirts, billboards, school flyers, television, and radio ads. It was everywhere.
At the same time, another “Just Say No” movement gained momentum in evangelicalism. A plethora of books, Bible studies, and other resources reminded teens that “true love waits,” encouraged them to reclaim purity, and promoted courtship over dating.
It’s important to remember the context within which this purity movement grew. Samuel James reminds us how the 90s pushed new boundaries by mass-marketing sexual content through movies and television. The teen pregnancy rate also peaked and remained high for most of the decade, and the advent of the internet made access to pornography easier than ever.
In that cultural moment, the purity movement was an understandable call to turn away from the culture’s sexual immorality. This call was well intended, and it bore some real fruit. But sadly, there wasn’t enough emphasis on what we were to turn toward. For young men, who were characterized as uniquely visual creatures, the message was “Look away!” without the equally important emphasis on what God has called us to see.
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