A Christian Ethic

I have been reading the book "Real Sex" by Lauren Winner and it is one of the best books on the topic I have ever read. As the child of a Reform Jewish father and a lapsed Southern Baptist mother, Winner grew up with both a Christmas tree and a menorah. Her parents raised her in the Jewish faith, and she details how she embraced Orthodox Judaism in college. "But, gradually my Judaism broke," she writes (which she chronicles in "Girl Meets God". Prior to and after her conversion she was very sexually active which she acknowledges wasn't looked upon favorably by either her Jewish community or her Christian community. "Real Sex" goes on to chronicle her discovery and struggle with chastity, sexuality, and faith. I highly recommend the book.

Lauren says that when she gave her heart to Jesus it was one of the best things she had ever done. However, she found that growing her Christian ethic was much more difficult than she had anticipated. She found that her Christian sexual ethic was the most difficult thing to get a hold of. It was only after she had developed her ethic of money, time, and worship that she turned her attention to her sexuality.

Christian ethics is defined as the systematic study of the way of life set forth by Jesus Christ applied to the daily demands and decisions of human existence. What we do with our money, time, resources, sexuality, talent, worship, etc all reflect a Christian ethic. I know there are several of you out there that have taken classes and have read many books on this deep and profound subject. I am going to teach my teens about having a Christian ethic in the fall, but right now I feel like there is a lot for me to learn and think about. I would say that my teens are comfortable with giving their lives to Jesus, but they have an excruciatingly hard time having a Christian ethic. I get so angry at them sometimes for their poor ethic, but then I come back to my own ethic which I find lacking at times.

Joe Hays recently had a quote on his blog that said ""...it is not rebellion or doubt or even sin that breaks God's heart; it is indifference." I think this quote has a lot to say about faith and a search for God. It definitely reflects Revelation 3:15-17, but I don't think you can have an indifferent Christian ethic. That's not to say that having a Christian ethic is easy or that a Christian ethic will always provide answers. Rather it's saying that your actions will always expose an ethic that is counter to or in-line with an ethic that Jesus would have.

There is a good overview of Christian ethics that you can find here. Here is a quote from the final paragraph of the link I provided:

"Since Christian ethics centers in the ethical insights of Jesus, a logical "next step" might be to move directly into an examination of these as they are to be discerned from his recorded words and deeds - thence to an application to the problems of our time. The reader who wishes to follow this sequence is free to do so, and the table of contents will direct him in it. Yet if we are to understand Jesus, or if we are to discern the centrality of his message in reference to the entire Bible, we cannot proceed so simply. Jesus had a past, and from his life and influence came the Church of which the beginnings are recorded for us in the New Testament. It is essential, therefore, to look first at the Old Testament, then at Jesus, then forward from his earthly life to the birth of Christianity. From this wider biblical perspective we shall be the better equipped to judge what is truly Christian."

What Christian ethic (or for my Jewish friends, Jewish ethic) is the most difficult for you to understand or deal with? How do you use that ethic in your life and has anyone ever called you on your lack of ethic? Got any ideas of how I can articulate what it means to have a Christian ethic for my teens (preferably in a 10 week formatt :)?

PS: Lauren Winner is going to be speaking on Sex and chastity at our church in September. If your interested in attending let me know.