A second article came through today on young evangelicals reconsidering the oral tradition which they inherited. This piece from Patrol on “The cult of virginity“, a bunch of good comments too. It’s interesting because there often aren’t a lot of comments on the Patrol blog, but this piece drew response.

The first article was on publishing in Nashville being shaken up by the young and doubtful evangelicals. 

An observation and an illustration

• These are voices pushing back from within a thick culture. In places where the evangelical culture is no where so thick the conversations don’t have the same energy.
• If you grow up in a cabin, at some point you might decide the walls are in too close. One answer to walls in too close is blow up the cabin. At this point you might re-evaluate your strategy.
• If you grow up in a field, what you might very much desire are some walls and a roof. Many who have grown up in fields look longingly at cabins, even if the walls aren’t placed where they would have liked.

Sometimes we pursue these conversations with the self importance of imagining our prescriptions and standards will dictate the behavior of others. That’s usually not the case, especially when it comes to a drive as strong as sex at a time in our lives when we have little self-knowledge or self-awareness.

What we hope we may do is offer guidance and wisdom that will bring life to those who care to listen to us. Maybe that thought can govern our conversation.