Wisdom Cries Aloud: The Foolishness of the Sexting Craze

Where has wisdom gone to hide? She is noticeably absent and missing. Everywhere you turn you feel the void her absence brings. Like Kevin waking up to find out he is all alone while the rest of the McAllister family is cruising at 30,000 feet Paris bound, it seems we awaken to find ourselves looking around to discover wisdom is nowhere to be found. We appear to be home alone. 

Wisdom is interesting. You cannot touch wisdom. You cannot buy wisdom. You cannot smell, taste, hear, or see wisdom. Yet, interestingly, we all know when we encounter wisdom, and, as I hope to highlight, we all know when it is missing. A simple description of wisdom would be: the ability to connect cause and effect. Wisdom is knowing how decision x will produce consequence y. If I do this, this will happen. If I fail to do this, this will happen. Wisdom is the ability to see these factors and conditions, and with all the information, make the smartest and best decision. That is wisdom.  

What is the evidence that wisdom has long left us to our own devises? There are endless examples that could be pointed out to support the claim that wisdom, along with Elvis, has left the building. 

The Sexting Dilemma 

One such craze happening right now all over the world, and in all age groups, is sexting. This is a particular practice among young adults. For those who have been hanging out in a bunker somewhere and are not familiar with sexting, it is simply take nude photographs of yourself and sending them to someone via text message. Yes, this person is usually a boyfriend/girlfriend or someone trusted, and not a stranger. But it is unwise nonetheless. 

Why does this demonstrate a lack of wisdom? Okay, let's evaluate: taking a picture of your genitals or breasts to send to someone who then has the image on their phone, for as long as they desire, to show anyone they please, to send to infinite numbers of people...hey, you're right, what could go wrong? 

This phenomena has and continues to wreak havoc in countless people's lives. People are having their nude selves broadcasted to their entire school, or worse yet, online for endless millions. "How dare someone violate my trust by sharing my photo with other people?," you say. How foolish! What did you expect would happen! Forget the fact that you should not be showing your naked body to anyone other than your spouse - which means if you are spouseless you should not be showing your naked body to anyone - taking pictures with your electronics and sharing them with others is just plain dumb. 

Do you really think the person you are sending these pics to respects you? Do you think that the person you are sending these pics to wants to have a relationship based on friendship and something of substance? No way! Not when your willing to act like one of Hugh Hefner's insecure ladies who try to garner the affections and attention of others using their bodies.

Will your future spouse - because I can almost guarantee you the person your sending these pics too is not the one - going to be excited to know your genitals have had 5,698 views via the internet sites created to house such photos? What is your plan for when the "relationship" doesn't work out? Are you going to send a friendly text that says: "Hey, sorry it didn't work out, would you mind erasing that picture of my boobs I sent you? LOL #embarassing" I hate to break the bad news, by the time you have sent that text, your lady parts have already been shown to all his buds, plus a few of his female friends (who all think you are a skank now).

Foolish, Foolish, Foolish

"I just didn't think he/she would hurt me like that. I can't believe they shared my pics with others." This is spoken by a fool. If wisdom is defined by the ability to connect cause and effect, the fool is defined as someone who cannot make this connection. The fool is the person who acts without thinking of the consequences. The fool keeps repeating mistakes because they never learn to assess how one decision may bring about a set of consequences they do not desire. 

At the heart of the sexting craze is rampant foolishness. Guys and gals alike are both acting foolishly. Because they hear of other couples sharing pictures with each other, it becomes the thing to do. Many are just burning with lust, seeking to find fulfillment through sexual contact and exploitation, rather than relationships built on friendships and shared beliefs. The truth is, everyone knows it could backfire and that it's wrong, but they do it anyway. This is why it is foolish. Friends, when you press "send," you can never ever get the picture back. You no longer have control as to who will see your naked body. This is also why you should not be surprised when your worst fears have come true and your desire to run and hide far outweighs the adrenaline rush you had when sending the pics. 

A Closing Plea

As a father of three younger children, two being girls, I greatly desire to teach them to be wise. I do not want them doing things simply to blend with the crowd and culture. I want them to respect themselves enough to not broadcast the body God gave them to people who have no business seeing it. I want them to know their dignity and respect is far more important to keep than some zit-face kid with raging hormones and desire to impress his buds. 

What I would say to them, I say to you. Exercise wisdom. The Bible says that fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). Fearing the Lord is about reverence and honor to Him as your Creator. He made your body. You were made in the image of God which is what gives you dignity and worth. You deface that dignity and worth when you seek your value from your body. Your body was made by God. Your body is not God. Your body has worth because you are made in the image of God. You do not find your worth in your body. This is crucial to understand. 

Wisdom cries aloud in the streets (Proverbs 1:20). She is seeking for all who will listen to her. She desires to protect us. We must heed her instructions and listen to her pleas. She'll return to us again if we would open our ears. If we would stop and think, she will dwell among us. Unlike Kevin, I do not think we will survive long with our house absent of her presence. We need wisdom to return and take her rightful place in our lives. I have smelled the repugnant fragrance of foolishness in our culture long enough.

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