The things we don't talk about....

"We just don't talk about that in Sunday school" he said, with his hands folded on his knees. With an awkward and uncomfortable demeanor this church leader made it very clear that talking about sex in Sunday school was a topic too risky and controversial to cover. [Insert my squinted eye and lifted eyebrow in total confusion here.] I wanted to fling both arms in the air in total drama queen status and ask DUDE ARE YOU CRAZYYYY!?!? WHY DON'T WE JUST STOP PREACHING THE BIBLE ALL TOGETHER WHILE WE'RE AT IT!?! But before I could hand someone over my earnings and ask my mom for a hair tie I managed to sit there and listen to his argument, even though it was making me twitch.  A church leader and I sat in my living room a while back and he politely discussed his concern about the topic I had chosen to go over in Sunday school that previous weekend. As he happened to walk in on the lesson that morning I just so happened to be talking about this very subject. His concerns about the matter were raised and therefore decided to bring those concerns to my attention by letting me know Sunday school was not the appropriate place or time to talk about the sanctification of biological procreation.  If you don't speak nerd and wanna put it in lamens terms it's baby makin'. There. My class is made up of middle school students who attend public schools with pregnant thirteen year old girls and homosexual and lesbian affiliated clubs.  And this is just middle school!! I still fail to understand how talking about a bible based subject to hormonal driven teenagers is inappropriate. I am in no way condemning the opinions of this church leader or diminishing his love for God or the church, however, if the body of Christ is called to preach the word of God, and called to use the word of God as the primary mechanism to teach, rebuke, love and instruct the members of the church, then that means that every aspect of the scriptures is inspired by God and useful for teaching. Yes, even sex.

When the church begins to taboo certain subjects that bruise and wound the body of Christ then it fails to be the primary source of help to those who need it. Topics such as sexual immorality, pornography, homosexuality, lesbianism, masturbation (SweetBabyJesus even that!?), witch craft, politics, suicide, should Christians have tattoos or not, the hooking up culture, sexting and others are subjects that have been glossed over by various congregations. For fear of controversy and dispute from members of the church, topics such as these rarely reach the pulpit or small group studies. When the church decides to remain silent it gives the world a voice to educate the Christian community on matters such as these, leaving members confused and at times ignorant. We should not be afraid of culture and it's questions. Our culture around us is constantly changing and adopting new philosophies, trends, and belief systems. Ignoring them will only make us ill-informed and weak.

What are your thoughts on this subject? Should Christians shy away from cultural matters or learn ways to talk about them? I'd love to hear from ya'll! :)

Love,
Nanda <3