Craigslist is a free ad listing service on the internet. It is similar to the free Thrifty Nickle newspaper, but it costs nothing to list a sale item, and it has become a popular way to buy, sell and trade.
Craigslist also has what it calls the “Adult Services” section. Here people can advertise massages, escort services, and other euphemisms of what is sometimes a solicitation of prostitution. As such, the service has come under legal scrutiny, and after various threats, Craigslist has shut down that part of its site.
What I wanted to comment on is use of the word adult to describe such illicit activities as extramarital sex, gambling, drug and alcohol use. It always makes me wonder why people would associate the word adult with such self-destructive and undisciplined actions.
I do understand why they are called adult activities. They are adults who do them. Even worldly individuals agree that they are inappropriate for children. I guess only adults are allowed to act so stupidly.
The other day on the radio, two hosts were talking about the inappropriate use of profanity. One of these idiots said that you don’t want your children to cuss, because they don’t know when it is and when it is not appropriate to use profanity. When asked when it is appropriate, he said, as an example, that it is often appropriate to use profanity at work.
His associate related his embarrassment when his four year old son used a term disparaging to women in a public place. He was embarrassed because he knew that others would figure out the young child had learned the term in the home. They knew the boy had learned it from his dad. What a sad example of parenting!
The scriptures clearly teach that such activities are no more appropriate for adults than they are children. We are called to righteous living, “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:15-18).
Consider this as a good rule of thumb to follow. If by law someone has to be 21 years old to buy or legally drink a substance, a Christian has no business imbibing. If movies will not allow those under 17 years of age to enter the theater, a Christian should not be found there either. If the CD wrapper has a warning about explicit lyrics, it should not be found in the shopping cart of a child of God. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.
Perhaps the most disturbing comments of all are how these are adult things because only adults can “handle them.” First, they don’t handle them very well! The string of broken homes and lives are sufficient evidence of that. Anyone who believes they have a handle on vice is a fool indeed. Second, at every age, worldly influences taint the soul. As Paul said, “Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6). If you drink poison, you die. If you pollute the soul with worldly vices, you can’t expect to present yourself to God as a “living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:2).
