22220.041 The “Slut” Factor

Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion. (Proverbs 11:22)

Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. (Proverbs 5:15)

A famous TV and film celebrity was being interviewed on network television, and I was fascinated by her vulnerability and apparent honesty. Then came the question about her sexual relationships. With total transparency and no shame, she said, “I don’t consider myself promiscuous. I’ve only had a dozen men.”

I have reflected on that statement over the years and have grieved at the loss of any concept of sexual purity linked to words like chaste, virginal, celibate, or abstinent.

Rush Limbaugh got pummeled for calling an unmarried female law student who wanted the government to pay for her contraception aids a “slut.” I don’t know what that word means anymore, but it has traditionally described a woman who has many sexual partners outside of marriage. I regret that the double standard does not provide a similar label for profligate men (maybe “slutman”?).

The wise and Spirit-directed writers of the Book of Proverbs knew that moral purity—in men and women—has a very narrow definition. The standard is not “fewer than a dozen” sexual partners. The standard is one, and that one is to be in a covenant bond of marriage unless death opens the door to a second marriage. In a delicate euphemism, Proverbs 5:15 commands the morally responsible to “Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.” Drinking at the trough of many partners under cover of being “sexually active” is sinful and personally destructive, pure and simple.

Principle: Sexual “inactivity” for unmarrieds is not a curse; it is a virtue.

We now live in a culture in which moral purity and chastity are causes for eye-rolling and derision. This is because “pushing the envelope” in every culture is always a push in the same direction—away from biblical definitions of righteousness. Unfortunately, many believers in Jesus Christ—some reading this—have bought into the world’s redefinitions.

Principle: God’s moral law is constantly being swept down­ stream by the world system through redefinition. Adhere precisely to God’s definitions, or you’ll be swept away by the current.

So what is a young (or old for that matter) unmarried person to do? Proverbs would answer that question, “be discrete” or “show discretion.” Flaunting your good looks or comely body to make yourself seductively attractive is really stupid. Linking beauty to moral indiscretion in humans and adorning a pig with gold jewelry makes the point with eloquence.

Principle: If one’s moral character is like swine, then adorning it with gold is wasteful and asinine. If one’s character is pure as gold, it will be sufficiently adorned already.

Don’t let the world system define morality and purity for you. God has already done that.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]