“Couple Saves 1st Kiss for Wedding Day.”
That was the headline on the front page of the Sunday edition of The Tennessean newspaper. The writer called it “super-abstinence.”
The story was about Katy, the daughter of my friend Paul Barker, dean of the Every Nation Leadership Institute.
Paul showed me the article yesterday in my office. Before getting to our business of planning some mission trips in Asia, we discussed the “first kiss” article. We both agreed that the point is living by biblical moral standards—not the timing of the first kiss. It is possible to be pregnant, and still save the first kiss for the altar.
Having said that, I applaud single people who set high standards and not only save their virginity but also their lips—but the ultimate issue is a relationship with God. If we attempt to live by high moral standards but don’t have a relationship with Jesus, we will either fail miserably or we will succeed and be filled with pharisaical pride.
The real battle is passion, not purity. If we win the passion battle, we will have the power to fight the purity battle. A burning passion for Jesus and his purpose will keep us out of moral trouble.
After my conversation with Paul, my mind wandered back to August 21, 1982—my wedding day. I have no regrets that the first time I kissed Deborah was when the pastor (Rice B) said, “you may now kiss the bride.”
For more on this topic—HERE’s the link to the original article with a pix of the kiss and some interesting comments from readers, and here’s the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary president’s blog about the story.