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Unmarried Couples Going Camping

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PrivateWoman

Member
I strongly believe that dating/engaged couples should avoid all appearances of evil and set boundaries to prevent themselves from falling into temptation. I don't think it is wise for a dating/engaged couple to be alone in a house because of temptations.

I am very concerned about someone because she wants to go camping with her boyfriend, her boyfriend's guy friend, and his girlfriend. They would sleep in the same tent. I don't think that is appropriate. Even if nothing happened, it still would look bad and her reputation could be ruined.

I'd like to hear people's thoughts about this.
 
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Zenas

Active Member
In today's society I doubt if her reputation would be ruined but it is still wrong. They ought not to do it.
 
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dwmoeller1

New Member
Change "wrong" to "unwise" and I agree with Zenas. The idea that it would ruin her reputation is today's society is...unwarranted.
 
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FR7 Baptist

Active Member
It wouldn't be immoral unless they had an intimate encounter. Regardless, I wouldn't recommend it because of temptation issues.
 
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sag38

Active Member
Play with fire and you will get burned. Take a seperate tents; one for the boys and one for the girls.
 
preachinjesus

preachinjesus

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I would suggest another venue would be better, perhaps with more couples and clear boundaries set. That said, society will have no problem with it.

At some point the church needs to realize we've been completely blown out of the water over the past 10 years in terms of how the two youngest adult generations view s3xuality and relationships.

I don't know if anybody is reading this stuff or cares about this stuff but all indications are that the Census is going to bad news for the evangelical church. Right now cohabitation is climbing at an unprecedented scale to population change. Specifically for individuals in their 20s there are more unmarried couples than married couples. On the issue of marriage among adults 25-34, roughly 46.3% reported they had never wed. It was the first time the share of unmarried young adults exceeded the 44.9% who were married. 2009 was one of the lowest years on record for the number of marriages performed as a percentage of the population.

I don't think the church realizes the huge issue that is getting ready to be dropped on us. In the church where I get to serve (this is in a major metropolitan area) we are seeing couples pushing the age of marriage back (it'll be late-late 20s within two years) and about 90% of the couples I counsel are either having s3x, have had, or have had s3x with someone(s) else.

We've got a complete paradigm shift happening right now. I'm not surprised at all when people tell me this kind of stuff.
 
F

Fred's Wife

Member
PrivateWoman said:
I strongly believe that dating/engaged couples should avoid all appearances of evil and set boundaries to prevent themselves from falling into temptation. I don't think it is wise for a dating/engaged couple to be alone in a house because of temptations.

I am very concerned about someone because she wants to go camping with her boyfriend, her boyfriend's guy friend, and his girlfriend. They would sleep in the same tent. I don't think that is appropriate. Even if nothing happened, it still would look bad and her reputation could be ruined.

I'd like to hear people's thoughts about this.
Click to expand...
What is "acceptable" in this world/society does not mean it is "acceptable" in God's eyes. If these couples profess Christ, they should be more concerned about what God says, not what the world/society deems "acceptable". We are told to "abstain from all appearance of evil". (1 Thess. 5:22) Isn't "friendship with the world emnity with God"? (James 4:4)

Where is the "fear" (reverential) of God these days?
 
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F

FR7 Baptist

Active Member
Fred's Wife said:
What is "acceptable" in this world/society does not mean it is "acceptable" in God's eyes. If these couples profess Christ, they should be more concerned about what God says, not what the world/society deems "acceptable". We told to "abstain from all appearance of evil". (1 Thess. 5:22) Isn't "friendship with the world emnity with God"? (James 4:4)

Where is the "fear" (reverential) of God these days?
Click to expand...

The problem with that is you can't create new sins without scriptural warrant. Sharing a tent is not a sin; fornication is.
 
P

PrivateWoman

Member
Fred's Wife said:
What is "acceptable" in this world/society does not mean it is "acceptable" in God's eyes. If these couples profess Christ, they should be more concerned about what God says, not what the world/society deems "acceptable". We told to "abstain from all appearance of evil". (1 Thess. 5:22) Isn't "friendship with the world emnity with God"? (James 4:4)

Where is the "fear" (reverential) of God these days?
Click to expand...


I agree with you. It is so sad about how many people compromise today.
 
Baptist Believer

Baptist Believer

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Fred's Wife said:
We told to "abstain from all appearance of evil". (1 Thess. 5:22)
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A better way to interpret that verse is to "avoid evil every time it appears", otherwise you would have to condemn Jesus for violating that principle throughout His incarnate ministry (healing on the Sabbath, dining with tax gatherers, eating and drinking wine, touching sinners and allowing them to touch him, allowing his disciples to "harvest grain" on the Sabbath, overturning the trading tables on the Temple grounds, etc).

Certainly we need to do our best not to give people the wrong impression, but others are going to think what they want to think and we can't be held responsible for that.

Now to the issue raised in the original post, I think it is unwise for unmarried men and women (especially if they have a romantic relationship) to sleep in such close quarters. It is not necessarily sinful, but we also need to understand human weakness and the potential consequences of our actions.

Back when I was dating my wife a number of years back, we went to visit her aunt and uncle out of town. When we were bringing our bags in from the car, her aunt showed us the guest room where she intended the two of us to stay. Between the two of us, we stammered back-and-forth until I finally said (as graciously and humbly as possible) that we had established some boundaries when we first started dating, and sharing a bed for the night was outside of those boundaries. I ended up sleeping on a bed intended for a little girl (imagine a 6'05" 240 lb guy, built like a defensive lineman sleeping in a fetal position on a pink bed).
 
F

freeatlast

New Member
PrivateWoman said:
I strongly believe that dating/engaged couples should avoid all appearances of evil and set boundaries to prevent themselves from falling into temptation. I don't think it is wise for a dating/engaged couple to be alone in a house because of temptations.

I am very concerned about someone because she wants to go camping with her boyfriend, her boyfriend's guy friend, and his girlfriend. They would sleep in the same tent. I don't think that is appropriate. Even if nothing happened, it still would look bad and her reputation could be ruined.

I'd like to hear people's thoughts about this.
Click to expand...

Agreed very unwise. By the way her reputation is already in question, but in today's world and today's church that means little.
 
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F

Fred's Wife

Member
Paul3144 said:
The problem with that is you can't create new sins without scriptural warrant. Sharing a tent is not a sin; fornication is.
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Sharing a tent may not be sin in the eyes of the world...however sharing a tent without being married IS a sin in God's eyes. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:28 (KJV) But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

I didn't "create new sins"....Scripture specifically states that we are to "ABSTAIN" from every APPEARANCE of evil. Sharing a tent may not APPEAR evil to the world, but in God's eyes it certainly does.
 
F

FR7 Baptist

Active Member
Fred's Wife said:
Sharing a tent may not be sin in the eyes of the world...however sharing a tent without being married IS a sin in God's eyes. Jesus said:

Matthew 5:28 (KJV) But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

I didn't "create new sins"....Scripture specifically states that we are to "ABSTAIN" from every APPEARANCE of evil. Sharing a tent may not APPEAR evil to the world, but in God's eyes it certainly does.
Click to expand...

You can't create sins out of thin air. Adultery, fornication, and lust are sins; sharing a tent is not. Sharing a tent is unwise, but it is not sin and does not appear evil in God's eyes. Also, that appearance of evil verse has a better interpretation, as has been pointed out.
 
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