Let’s talk about sex, baby.
That’s not just a throwback line from a 90s pop hit—it’s a call to action. A call to parents, pastors, youth leaders, and children’s workers. A call to speak clearly, biblically, and beautifully to the rising generation about what it means to be embodied, relational, and sexual beings made in God’s image.
Because here’s the reality: culture is already talking. Loudly. Constantly. Persuasively.
Our children are being catechised—every day—by TikTok influencers, pornographic content, Netflix scripts, playground chatter, and school sex ed lessons that increasingly divorce sex from covenant, identity from biology, and freedom from moral boundaries. They’re growing up in a world where sex is everywhere—and meaning is nowhere.
If we do not disciple our children in this area, the world will.
Sex Is Not the Problem—Silence Is
Some of us grew up under the shadow of the purity culture movement, shaped by slogans like “True Love Waits” and books like I Kissed Dating Goodbye. There were good intentions—calling young people to holiness, honour, and sexual self-control. But the message too often reduced Christian sexual ethics to a transactional purity bargain: “Stay a virgin and God will bless you with a perfect marriage.”
The damage was real: shame, confusion, an underdeveloped theology of grace—and silence. So much silence.
Today, we risk swinging the pendulum too far the other way—saying nothing at all because we’re afraid of saying the wrong thing. Or we treat sex as a problem to be avoided, rather than a good gift to be received and rightly enjoyed.
But Scripture never blushes about the body. God is not prudish about pleasure, intimacy, or desire. He designed sex. He called it good. And He gave it a context: the lifelong, one-flesh covenant of marriage between a man and a woman.
That means the goal isn’t just to suppress sexuality—it’s to disciple it.
Let’s stop acting like the devil created sex.
A Better Story: God’s Good Design
We need to offer our children a better story. A deeper story. A truer story. One that begins not with rules, but with creation.
God made us embodied. He formed us male and female (Genesis 1:27–28), called it good, and blessed us with the capacity for intimacy, fruitfulness, and joy.
The male–female union is not random—it is God’s design to reflect His image. The union of man and woman in marriage represents the unity-in-diversity of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:31–32).
He created sexual attraction, desire, and arousal—not as something inherently sinful, but as part of being human. We need to teach that these things are not shameful, but designed to be stewarded in light of God’s purposes.
Sexuality has a God-given purpose. It is about covenant, not consumerism. It reveals complementarity, not competition. It is rooted in creation, not constructed by culture.
In fact, the Bible teaches something profound:
Marriage and sexuality point to Christ’s love for the Church.
Our sexuality is not ultimate—it is a signpost. Marriage is a shadow. Christ is the substance.
That means:
- Humans are sexual beings, but sexuality is not the core of our identity.
- Singleness is not sub-Christian.
- Celibacy is not wasted.
- Holiness is not repression, but joyful submission to God’s good ways.
This is the story we must tell. Over and over again.
Start Younger. Go Deeper. Keep Talking.
If you’re a parent, you might be tempted to delay these conversations, waiting for “the talk” at a later stage. But by the time you’re ready to have the talk, the world has already had many.
And if you’re a children’s or youth leader, you might feel ill-equipped or unsure where your role begins and ends. But silence from the church creates a vacuum—and vacuums get filled fast.
Let’s commit to a few things:
- Start early. Talk about bodies, babies, boundaries, and beauty in age-appropriate ways from the youngest years.
- Build a culture of trust. Make your home and your ministry a place where no topic is taboo, and no question is off-limits.
- Speak with warmth and wonder. Don’t just warn—celebrate God’s design. Show its goodness, not just its boundaries.
- Teach grace, not just guilt. We are all sexually broken. But Christ is a Redeemer. The cross is wide enough to cover every failure, and the Spirit is strong enough to form holiness in hearts of all ages.
- Train your team. Equip leaders in your church to speak with clarity and compassion. Provide resources. Run training nights. Bring the conversation out into the open.
- Model it. Let kids and teens see marriages that reflect Christ’s love. Let them meet single adults who live full, faithful lives for Jesus. Let them see men and women who live with self-control, joy, and integrity.
Let the Church Be the Loudest Voice
We cannot outsource sex education to the internet, the school system, or the playground. Nor can we merely react to cultural confusion with scorn and fear. We must be the ones to offer the compelling, beautiful, biblically rich vision of sex and relationships that our children—and the world—are starving for.
Let’s talk about sex, baby.
Let’s talk about how it points us to covenant faithfulness.
Let’s talk about how our bodies matter to God.
Let’s talk about how Jesus came in the flesh, died for our sins, and rose to redeem every part of us—including our sexuality.
Let’s speak first.
Let’s speak better.
Let’s keep speaking.
Because they’re listening.
