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Contents T A B L E
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Clothed with Christ By Kathryn Ann Hill Through Holy Baptism you have been clothed with Christ. Will you dress like a wise virgin or a belly dancer?
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Sex. Little Word—Big Deal By Maggie Karner Sex. Such a little word, but such a big deal. Funny how something can be so wonderful, and in other ways, terribly destructive.
10 What Am I Thinking? By David Schoenfield What would convince a twenty-two-year-old recent college graduate to enter into holy matrimony? Hear the story of from David about how he and his fiancée decided to get married.
12 The Christian Teen’s Response to Mental Illness By Martha Brunn Ulmer Read about Jenny, Jacob, and Aubrey, three teens who struggle with mental illnesses. How can a Christian teen respond to family members, friends, and classmates with these difficulties?
14 The Voice of the Gospel by Rev. George Borghardt Have you ever heard the Gospel's voice? It sounds more familiar than you might think.
16 I Am Simply Urging You to Be a Christian By Lynnette Fredericksen
I DON’T WANT TO DO IT! Why has Pastor reinstituted private confession and absolution? Is it worth it?
18 Don’t Tell Dad By Rev. Tim Pauls Should you tell Dad when your bad choices cause bad problems? An innocent basketball game leads to a mangled curtain rod, some tough consequences, and some thoughts on confession and forgiveness.
22 An Enemy, A Friend, and Häagen Daaz By Kathy Luder A rumor, a betrayal, and snot-flavored ice cream—don't miss Kathy's latest adventures!
25 The 40 Six Days of Purpose: It’s ALL about You! By Rev. Daniel Woodring
What is God’s purpose for your life? Some would suggest that we are here to worship God or to serve Him through our works. Is that how God sees it?
COLUMNS 20 MINING THE RICHES: The Friendship of David and Jonathan By Rev. Rick Stuckwisch 26 Pulse: Reality Shows By Rev. Eric A. Andrae 28 News and Notes 29 Ex Cathedra This issue’s issues: believing in ghosts, dating non-Christians, and normal bodies.
30 The Catechism: Vocation: Fighting against the Devil By Rev. David Petersen
HigherThings Volume 4/Number 2 Summer 2004 Editor-in-Chief REV. TODD PEPERKORN Assistant Editor JULIE STIEGEMEYER
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HIGHER THINGS, INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS President REV. KLEMET
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REV. BRUCE KESEMAN SANDRA OSTAPOWICH REV. TODD PEPERKORN REV. KLEMET PREUS JEFF SCHWARZ DR. GENE EDWARD VEITH MOLLIE ZIEGLER REV. MARCUS ZILL Higher Things Magazine ISSN 1539-8455 is published quarterly by Higher Things Inc., 2026 22nd Ave., Kenosha, WI 53140. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the editor-in-chief of Higher Things Magazine. Copyright 2004. Printed in the United States. Postage paid at Fort Wayne, Indiana. For subscription information, write to: Higher Things Magazine, P.O. Box 8098, Fort Wayne IN 46898 or e-mail to Subscriptions@higherthings.org. For general information about Higher Things, Inc., please e-mail info@higherthings.org.
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Clothed with
Chri
With loving care the Lord God formed the first man and woman in His own image. “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Gen. 2:25 NKJ). Soon after, Adam and Eve disobeyed God: they ate forbidden fruit. “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings” (Gen. 3:7).
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As soon as they heard the Lord God walking in the garden, the two guilty humans hid among the trees. Adam explained to his Maker,“I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself” (v. 10). For their own good, the Lord God had to expel the man and woman from Eden. Before He sent them away, however, God gave His beloved human creatures two gifts. First was the all-important promise of a Savior who would crush the enemy that had tempted them to sin (Gen. 3:15). Second was the gift of clothing: tunics the Lord God Himself fashioned of animal skin (v. 21). Blood was shed for the first time in God’s good creation in order to cover the shame of human sinners. They felt shame at their nakedness because God’s Law was at work condemning their sin. Later, God would take upon Himself their flesh and shed His own blood to provide them with forgiveness. Since mankind’s fall into sin, it has been important for humans to clothe their bodies decently. For that reason, the current trend in clothing for teenage females is distressing. Models for a moderately-priced department store smile happily while they reveal cleavage, a few inches of bare midriff, and six or more inches of thigh topped by a form-fitting skirt. This scanty look is suggested for the classroom. Their eyes may not be casting a come-hither look, but the clothes these young women sport are seductive. They model for today’s teenagers clothing that only prostitutes would have taken to the streets twenty years ago. Christian young women are tempted to follow this trend and do so. Their sin of baring their flesh is like
By Kathryn Ann Hill
ist
mankind’s first sin. Eve’s prideful aspiration to be like God was at work when she ate the forbidden fruit proffered by Satan. So pride in her own beauty is at work in the woman who shows off her body. She becomes, like Satan, a tempter of others, arousing lust in the men who see her. How can you escape your shame when you realize you have sinned this sin? Thanks be to God, who covers poor sinners in the splendid robe of His righteousness. How can Christian teenagers learn to resist the temptation to dress immodestly? You can begin by remembering whose you are. “You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20 NIV). The price that bought you is the holy, precious blood and the innocent suffering and death of God Himself. Ponder God’s great love for you: The immortal, invisible God, the great I AM who has no beginning and no end, actually became true man so that He could die for your sins. God became man in a marvelous way. The Word of God took on human flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There He who created the earth and stars and humankind was knit together into a perfect man-child. Then at just the right time our Lord came forth from His mother. He who gives us our daily bread soon took nourishment at His mother’s breast. How our human race is honored by our Lord’s Incarnation. Jesus has a body like every human male. His birth from a woman gives honor to every human womb; His infant suckling conveys honor to every woman’s breast. He who first made us in His image honored us again by deigning to become one of us. Then, to make sure that we could be His own forever, He paid for our sins on His cross and arose triumphantly from His grave.To guarantee that we belong to Him, He washed us clean with His Holy Baptism, gifting us with faith in Him. “All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself in Christ” wrote St. Paul (Gal. 3:27 NIV). A Lutheran rite of Holy Baptism demonstrates this teaching with the giving of a white garment to the newly baptized. “Receive this white garment to show that Christ has taken away and borne your sin and put upon you his perfect righteousness. So shall you in faith ever stand before him” declares the pastor (Lutheran Worship, p. 203). White garments are the fashion in heaven, too. St. John reports that the great multitude who stand before the throne of God are clothed in white robes that are washed and made “white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14 NKJ). With all this in mind, how ought you to cover yourself until God clothes you in your heavenly white robe? Choose garments that show reverence for the Christ who has created and redeemed your marvelous body. Showing reverence has to do with being covered. In icons of the Baptism of our Lord, angels bow respectfully, with hands covered, toward the Christ. At first it appears that they are holding towels, ready to dry their Lord when He emerges from the Jordan’s waters. A closer look shows that the folds of their garments are gracefully draped over their hands. The holy angels’ covering their hands in the presence of their Holy Lord is an ancient sign of reverence. You who belong to Christ cover your breasts and midriff and thighs as a confession of faith in your Creator. Next time you are tempted to offer the public provocative peeks of your body, remember who was carried in the Virgin Mary’s womb and who nursed at her breast. Then give thanks for your Savior from sin, who covers you in His righteousness. Kathryn Ann Hill, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is copyeditor of Gottesdienst: A Quarterly Journal of the Evangelical-Lutheran Liturgy.
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Sex.
Such a little word, but such a big deal. Funny how something can be so wonderful, and in other ways, terribly destructive. Sex lies at the heart of a lot of issues of our day and it seems to be a hot topic for discussion. A lot of people have a lot of opinions about sex that they want you to hear. . .or see. . .or believe.
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As a Christian, though, isn’t it great to know that opinions or viewpoints really don’t matter when we have something as valuable as the truth about this issue? We have someone who cares about us so much that he laid it all out for us, clearly and understandably—in His Word, the Bible. Huh? Sex. . .from the Bible? God actually has a tremendous amount to say about the subject of sex. He talks about it in every one of His epistles. Is it surprising to you that God wants you to have awesome sex? He created it— He’s the expert! God designed sex to be the wonderfully intimate, physical and emotional gift that two people experience together, but he intended this gift to be shared within a certain context that He created. And thus lies the problem: humans have always seemed to lose track of this important part of the plan. Sex is designed perfectly for boundaries that God has set. What many people never realize is that boundaries are good.Think about fire as an example. A campfire is very cozy and warms your cold toes when it’s in a fire ring. But allow that fire to jump outside the ring, spark a few dry leaves, and pretty soon you have a destructive forest fire on your hands. Boundaries are the same for us.There are lots of personal boundaries you can set for yourself. Some are optional (whether to pierce your ears, dye your hair or wear freaky clothes) and there are not many consequences involved except people may look at you funny. But God set up His boundaries because there are consequences—consequences we can’t
even begin to anticipate. For this reason, God gave us His law as a boundary. His aim is to give us joy and prevent us from being miserable. So he tells us very clearly in His Word that sex within His boundaries is awesome, sex without boundaries can be horribly destructive. Our God is a God who loves you so deeply and personally that He longs for your happiness! He wants you to have a great time in this life—the best of times! Not a life burdened by poor choices and dumb decisions. And just to help you out, he says,“I’ll make it easy on you—-I’ll help you avoid heartache, responsibilities that you’re not ready for, incurable diseases, poverty and even early death. I’ll give you some boundaries. I’ll lay it all out for you so when you’re tempted in your relationships—and you will be—you’ll have it all figured out ahead of time.” And to make things easy on us, God designed His boundary to be amazingly simple: Don’t have sex outside of a monogamous, married relationship. So why do we try to make things more complicated than they need to be? Either you are or you are not married. It seems like an easy question to answer. So why do I often hear,“but we’re almost married. . .but we love each other…but he’s different than all the rest…but we’re engaged. . .almost engaged. . .going steady. . .soul mates. . .but were gonna get married someday.” So many “buts”— so many excuses. “What’s the big difference,” people say.“It’s only a piece of paper! We love each other!” My response is this: Marriage means more than love. Marriage means “commitment”. And God did not create sex for the boundary of love. He created it specifically to be within the context of total commitment—and that means marriage. God knows if you are going to open yourself up completely, intimately, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, you had better know that your partner isn’t going to walk away. He created marriage for complete and total intimacy— an intimacy founded on commitment, trust and honesty. Engaging in a sexual relationship
short of this total commitment ends up leaving you feeling even more vulnerable and alone. God designed marriage because He understands the risks of living in a world filled with sin, disease, and heartaches, and He wants us to understand and avoid those risks. Pregnancy is a big issue here as well. Make no mistake; there are many people who can walk you through the difficult decisions that need to be made if you or a friend becomes pregnant, people who want to share a listening ear and a confidential hand of hope as you walk through these life-changing moments. Christian crisis pregnancy centers have made this their mission and you can find one of these centers in your area by asking your pastor or by looking under “abortion alternatives” in the Yellow Pages. But suppose the pregnancy test comes out negative. Crisis over, right? Wrong. Did you know that in the next 24 hours 12,000 teens will contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD) – 30% of them being incurable? Teens have a four-times greater chance of contracting a sexually transmitted disease than they have of getting (or getting someone else) pregnant? Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) causes this highly contagious disease that is the fastest growing STD among 16-24 yearolds. And here’s the scary news: 46% of teenage girls will get HPV after their first sexual intercourse! You can be unaware that you have this virus because many strains show no symptoms—until the damage begins later in life. HPV is the number one causal agent of cervical cancer in women.This cancer kills more women in the US every year than AIDS. Oh yes, and condoms are completely ineffective in preventing the spread of this disease because it has nothing to do with bodily fluids—this disease results from skin contact alone. You see, when you have sex with someone, you are having sex with everyone else they have had sex with for the last ten
years, and everyone else they have had sex with within the last ten years! You remember from math how numbers can grow “exponentially”. It’s the same here, folks.Today, 1 in 3 single people have some form of an STD. Teens and young adults are old enough to make decisions about a lot of stuff. And one of the things only you can decide is what goes on with your own body. Most young people that I talk to claim to get most of their information about sex from friends and other peers.This worries me.Truthful and factual information about sexuality is critical.Your sexuality includes decisions that can literally affect the entire course of events in your life. What if your decisions are based on information from friends who are, unknowingly, less informed than you? And once you’ve decided, don’t allow your good decisions to be sabotaged by drugs and alcohol. Often, our defenses are lowered and our common sense jeopardized (not to mention our health!) in these situations. Make a pact with yourself to never, never make any decisions about your sexuality if you are influenced by any form of drugs or alcohol. I encourage you to take control of your own body and dedicate (or re-dedicate) it as something that deserves respect and honor. Make decisions based on facts. Make a plan, before the moment happens. 1Corinthians 6:19-20 says:“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price.Therefore honor God with your body.” You are precious. God took great care in designing you. In your baptism, He adopted you as His child and gave you the lineage of royalty.You have a future and a hope that no one can take away. Enjoy your future and live big! If you have questions, don’t forget to talk to your parents.Trust me; they will listen.They will take you seriously and will get you answers. If that’s not an option, feel free to contact me. I will keep correspondence completely confidential and would love to hear from you. Just e-mail me at mskarner@juno.com . Maggie Karner is Director of LCMS Life Ministries.
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