‹ Back

Revelation 14:4 "It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste; it is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes; these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb".

 

John is describing the one hundred forty-four thousand who stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion and have been redeemed from the earth. (Revelation 14:1,3). I do not know why he is seeing only men as making up the redeemed, which I am inferring from the fact that he says they have not defiled themselves with women. Putting that aside, though, chastity is the quality being stressed as most important for this elect group of the saved.

 

Sexual sin matters, a lot! I know that our modern culture does not see it that way at all, and I appreciate that the Church must walk with people where they are, but it was frustrating to me when Pope Francis downplayed the importance of sexual sin. I know where he was coming from - sexual sin (that is not too perverted, at least) is usually committed out of a disordered view of love, while other sins typically flow from indifference or even hatred. Disordered love is at least in the ballpark of what we are to be striving for, so sexual sin born from a feeling of love seems more understandable than, for example, murder born of hatred.

 

But God does not make that differentiation, that's something we came up with. God calls sin sin, and He wants us to repent of it, be it sexual sin, murder, or anything else. It is all a denial of His proper order and it all contributes to human suffering. Sexual sin affects those engaged in it, their families, the potential children resulting from it, and the community at large, especially when it becomes tolerated and normalized.

 

Notice also that the one hundred forty-four thousand were not lauded for not having not committed sexual sin, but for not having had sex at all - they were virgins. Virginity is a purity that makes one closer to God. Even other ancient religions saw the value of virginity, thinking that a virgin would be more pleasing to whatever god they were worshiping.

 

Even if we feel we cannot correct others or meddle in their lives, we can take this lesson to heart for ourselves: God loves chastity. Being chaste in accordance with our station in life (including sexual sin to be avoided within marriage) is a most important step toward getting to heaven, even if the world says otherwise, and whether the Church is actively speaking of it or not.