A cartoon shows a minister in the pulpit with a sack over his head. A single adult says to a pewmate, "Well, I see the pastor is preaching from Song of Solomon today." That cartoon reflects the church's mixed signals to single adults. Addressing sexuality and singleness in the church isn't easy.

"Why preach on that?" one pastor retorted. "It's simple: No! End of discussion." Rarely is it the end for the 73 million adults who populate Singleland USA.

One single asked what to do about his sexual temptations. "Have you tried talking to God about it?" I replied.

"To God!" he sputtered. "You can't talk to God about stuff like that!"

"Why not? He already knows."

"Oh, no!" he moaned, his head in his hands.

But not talking to God about sex would be like not talking to Bill Gates about computers. Who knows more about sexuality than its Creator? If we do not talk about it, the silence forces single adults to look elsewhere for answers and support. As Jenell Williams Paris wrote in Christianity Today (11/12/01), ...