Countercultural

The ancient city of Ephesus was known for its wickedness. The capital of the Roman province of Asia and a busy commercial port, Ephesus was an affluent area. It was also the headquarters for the cult of the goddess Diana.

Thousands of prostitutes in the employ of the Temple of Diana combed the city. They essentially would sell their bodies to draw people to the temple, generate revenue, and promote worship of their false goddess.

Many believers in the church of Ephesus had come out of a very dark background. In their culture, prostitution and immorality were a way of life. Yet some who were professing faith in Christ had returned to their old ways of immorality. And some had never left it to begin with.

Writing to followers of Jesus living in this sex-obsessed culture, the apostle Paul said, “Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people” (Ephesians 5:3 NLT).

Paul was saying, “Stay away from immorality, adultery, and covetousness.”

The parallels to our culture are obvious. It is clear that we, too, are living in a sex-obsessed culture. Yet God is saying to believers, “As My children, as My beloved, as those who bear the family name wherever you go, stay away from immorality.”

I thank God for every Christian man and woman who is standing their ground in this wicked and adulterous generation. I thank God for husbands and wives who are saying, “We are going to remain faithful to each other.” And I thank God for each family that has drawn a line around their home, saying, “It stops here.”

As followers of Jesus Christ, we should not only avoid the very sin of immorality but also avoid anything that would bring us remotely close to it.