An Ashley Madison America... | David Fiorazo Ministries

…and a Fifty Shades of Grey Church.

Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Hebrews 13:4

Years before the Supreme Court gave its opinion and ruled against natural marriage in 2015, the agenda was well underway to remove America’s moral anchors and replace them with humanism and hedonism. The goal of same sex “marriage” activists is not for gays and lesbians to be able to marry; the goal is to destroy the family unit and eliminate all marriage.

Much has been said about this intense battle in the public square over the definition of God-ordained marriage in America. What has not been discussed enough is the fact that for many decades, both men and women in the U.S. have struggled with everything from adultery and pornography to idolatry and lying.

We have loved pleasure more than God (2 Timothy 3:1-5) and as a result, we have pursued selfish gain. We have dishonored our parents (remember the rebellious 60s and 70s?), forgotten the Sabbath, and most of us at one point and time have taken the Lord’s name in vain. (omg!)

We’ve coveted our neighbor’s house, spouse, job or lifestyle. We have either aborted our own babies (the Latin meaning of “fetus” is offspring), know someone who has, or approved of the murder of innocent life by our vote (Commandment #6); all under the guise of choice, privacy, women’s health, feminist justice or reproductive freedom.

Our silence has had consequences.

The challenge is to address these issues within the ranks of Christianity. We cannot expect unbelievers to obey God’s laws; they need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and put their trust in Him alone. Once their heart is changed by the power of the Holy Spirit, then their worldview, politics, and behaviors will change.

In the church however, we often avoid confrontation and controversy. We idolize our athletes, celebrities, and political parties. We place so many things above the Lord our God, including activities and relationships, that we barely scrape a few minutes together to read a Scripture or mutter a quick prayer. Our divorce rates are too high and we’re not setting the best example for the world and this must change (Romans 12:2, Matthew 5:16).

In a recent survey, “State of Dating in America” conducted by Christian Mingle and JDate, a majority of respondents say they would move in together before getting married. One revealing question was, “Would you have sex before marriage?” Eighty-seven percent said yes! Here’s the breakdown:

Yes. 63%
Yes, if I was in love. 19%
Yes, but only after we’re engaged. 5%
No. 13%

In an interview on the subject of religious freedom in America, I asked author, Scott Alan Buss, what he thought about the removal of another Ten Commandments monument – this one in Oklahoma. He replied,

We like our plaques; we just don’t like the Commandments.

In other words, we like the idea of publicly displaying monuments, but we’d rather not obey the Ten Commandments. Adultery and divorce, for example, are generally accepted by society, but have often been covered up or ignored within the church.

If the church is not much different from the world, we have a problem.

Remember the fallout from the Ashley Madison (dating site for married people) data breach a few months ago? Here is a company openly promoting and glorifying fornication by encouraging sin. Their motto is, “Life is short – have an affair.” Apparently, even after hackers leaked data on its clients, Avid Life Media reported “hundreds of thousands of new users signed up for the Ashley Madison platform — including 87,596 women” in the weeks that followed.

Think about the 31 million users whose personal information was released in July. Many families were left to pick up the broken pieces of shattered relationships. In Matthew 5:28, Jesus said, “everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

According to Ed Stetzer of Christianity Today, as many as 400 pastors, deacons, elders and church staff members were on the list; not a huge percentage, but a heart problem nonetheless. A few well-known pastors were exposed leading to resignations, suspensions, and in at least one case, suicide.

But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself. Proverbs 6:32

Now, if you’re not a Christian and you point to the hypocrisy of a small number of Christians as an excuse not to turn from your own sins and trust in Jesus, that won’t cut it when you stand before God on Judgment Day.

Before we address the epidemic of sexual promiscuity and moral confusion in our culture including the lies the homosexual and transgender agendas promote, it is imperative we first look within the church, examine our own faith, turn from this world back to Jesus Christ if necessary, and strengthen our marriages. We cannot do this without denying ourselves and striving to love God with all our hearts.