"To the pure, all things are pure." Titus 1:15

Somewhere along the line, we failed to draw a line. It's not fashionable in a fuzzy, postmodern world to talk about lines.

The good news about postmodernism is that we're not black and white about things that need to be grey. The bad news is that God does draw lines and we can mistake a gospel of acceptance of others, of love and tolerance, for a gospel of "if it's true for you, then it's ok."

God has a problem with not just sin, but with impure thinking, and we need to wrestle with the issue. The passage in Titus (above) goes on to say, "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him." Then, as he sums up, Paul's advice to Titus sounds harsh to our sensitivity-trained ears, "They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good."

Whew! I don't want to be in that group! So, what do I do to protect myself? Turning the page to Titus 2:12 we find some sound counsel, "Say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions. Live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age."

In our house, saying "No" meant not having a TV set (we did videos we could screen in advance). It meant no PG-13 movies before about 15 years old (it sounds extreme, doesn't it?) It meant no "R" movies, period. Once the kids went to college, what they do is up to them. It meant encouraging them in purity, frowning on one-on-one dating, monitoring their spiritual lives and encouraging them to go deeper in their walks with Jesus (trying to emphasize principles over rules).

Yes, this was extreme. To some, we seemed hopelessly retrograde. None of our kids' friends were held to these standards. But now that our kids are in their 20's, I like the fruit. I'm glad we were strict. They don't always make the choices we'd make, but for the most part, they make good ones.

What about you, where do you draw the line? What are your strategies for purity?