Let me paint a different picture from what many of my colleagues, contemporaries, and even elders are saying. Tradition is not a sin.There is nowhere in the Bible nor near equivalent source of knowledge that points to anything otherwise being true. The lure of the present generation is reform–to make new, to adapt, and to renovate things “up to date”.. in many places this is good, it brings about modest improvements to outdated and archaic principles. However, there is a risk in this work, a fatal one if you are not too careful; and that is to make the world into your own image. Times change and circumstances are sure to develop into new conditions as the generations ware on, but these exist a temptation with all this newness to simply dismiss the past. History becomes irrelevant because we are living in unprecedented times. One might say, “the influence of the internet has created a new world, one with new morals and a new set of standards.” But this cannot be so. Now it is true that some cliches are nothing more than the rantings of the stumbling fanatics. Its true, your sexuality is not a bandit in wait for the robbery of your purity. It isn’t a water balloon that gets ruined if popped before the right person at the optimal and most permissible point in life. Instead, sexuality is a gift. Your body is a treasure, a manifestation of God’s love for us in a worshipful vessel we get to housekeep for. The best part is that the house doesn’t suck. It’s a mansion full of big rooms with curious passageways and a whole lot of things to figure out. The problem is, in our haste to explore, we forget that we are responsible for its welfare. The keys have been entrusted to us and we are faced with a choice to be stewards, or just tourists. My mom used to say that life is a simple commitment to just do “the next right thing.” You are not lost or diseased if you have had sex with another person. You aren’t a hazard to society or the Church because you’ve decided to go further with your sexual partner than you hoped. You aren’t unloved and you certainly aren’t unwanted… but you are accountable. These talks on moral correctness, sexual purity, and anything of the social taboo, often times become centralized around the problem with judgment. We are experts, professional specialists at picking apart what components of our theology are restricting us from experiencing the most amount of freedom. “In what places is Christianity a limitation and in what ways can I reasonably (or in some cases very unreasonably) liberate myself from those legalistic chains.” But perhaps that is the approach of the ungodly instead of the wantings of  a spirit filled Christian. We were called in the great commission to evangelize, preach the gospel to all nations and to live it out as best we can. We weren’t made to “seek out cracks in the Biblical condition which allow for more pleasure. That sounds vaguely, or perhaps denouncably utilitarian. If tradition is not sin then neither can the cliche. Some might be ill originated, and that requires discernment. But a wide arrange of these sayings are famously spoken for a reason… They are time worn truths. A careful decision to not enter an area of temptation is not an outdated signature of ancient conservatism, it is the mark of a Christ-kindred soul. Perhaps one of the greatest enemies of the Church today is an attitude of adjustment. We are Christians called to tradition, a heritage marked by purity and stamped with grace. Where these is sin these is forgiveness. But these is also a need for repentance. The Church does not exist to excuse and pardon but to redirect lost people to Christ. The more we continue to qualify and accommodate the further we spread ourselves from the saving power of God. He exists in truth and truth will not be adjusted. It is timeless and devoid of empty promises.