If being born into the family of God cleared you from ever
being tempted to sin again the writers of the New Testament sure could have
saved a lot of paper and ink writing to Christians about dealing with their
flesh. Until your flesh is pumped full of embalming fluid and laid to rest in a
cemetery you will struggle with it. In order to subdue it, however, you must
starve it. It has an appetite the size of The Grand Canyon; a hole you are
incapable of satisfying! Attempts are often made to fill that hole but the
project is always expensive because of what that dark hole calls for.
Addictions are built this way. Bottles and bottles of liquor and bags upon bags
of drugs can never fill this cavernous void. We’ve all watched addicts attempt
it and lay their lives to ruin at the same time but few of us think we are
capable of such an end. You’ve got your life together, right? You dress, walk,
talk and live like a Christian. You may even be a Sunday school teacher, song
leader or even a preacher…you just look at a little bit of porn here and
there…I mean, nobody knows, right?
The only way I could have been raised any more
conservatively would have been to be shipped off and raised by the Amish. My
family was strict, our standards straight and our hair all parted neatly to one
side but as a seventh grader in a Christian school I found myself subjected to
my first pornographic image. It was a printed picture in a friend’s wallet but
I can still see it in my mind as clearly as I saw it that day. My upbringing
kicked into gear immediately and I shunned the image and scolded my friend but
my curiosity had been teased. I started finding ways to pull up images on my
family’s home computer and it became a daily habit, an addiction that ran on
for a couple of years. I hated it! I wanted it gone but Satan had devised a
ploy that played aggressively on the way God had designed my mind to work and I
was stuck fast! I must have sincerely repented of it a hundred times but each
time I found myself mentally justifying it again in some way until finally, it
happened. I was sitting there minding my own business one day and my dad came
walking in with this serious look on his face and said “get in the truck, let’s
go for a ride.” I had been caught. I’ll never forget that ride. He didn’t
ground me, he didn’t take all my prize possessions away, he just understood and
loved me. I can’t tell you how embarrassed I was but at the same time, on the
inside, I felt renewed! I wasn’t fighting alone anymore! I had accountability!
My story is a very mild one but it still stands as proof
that a good person with a good family and good intentions can struggle with
this addiction and be completely under the radar! That was only about 12 years
ago but technology has SOARED since then! Chances are that YOU have a smart
phone with a media package and can look at whatever you want and delete the
history when you are done. You don’t have to download anything or buy anything
or hide magazines under the bed anymore; just pull out your phone when you are
alone and the feed is endless. The problem is that, if YOU aren’t rescued early
like I was, the potential is there for you to not just stop with images. I
heard a testimony just yesterday from a worship leader at a high profile church
that ended up in bed with multiple women he’d met online before he finally got
the nerve to look for help! I wonder how many “good Christians” are reading
this post right now that have gone that far or are about to? I wonder how many
preachers are reading this right now that would be outright devastated if their
iPhone history could be brought back and reviewed by the people they preach to?
This sin is difficult to beat mainly because of how it is
approached. First, we convince ourselves that it really isn’t all that bad and
we make excuses for it. We look down on others who are involved in truly petty
sins while we ourselves harbor this grotesque, adulterous sin! Second, we are
determined to fix it ourselves. Right, the same flesh that drives us in this horrid
addiction is the flesh we entrust to heal us of it. Not. Going. To. Happen. My
friend, it’s time to do some confessing. Your flesh NEEDS to be embarrassed about
the problem. If you are married, your wife is the perfect candidate to confess
to. Women don’t always understand this struggle so don’t expect it to go to well.
Women tend to take it personally; you’ll have to help her understand but she’s
the one you’ve been cheating on and she is the one that needs to know. (If
infidelity has already occurred your pastor needs to know and you need to
resign from all public ministry positions and allow restoration to take its
course. God has no intentions of throwing you away but it’s time to put
yourself in His hands.) Accountability is the next step. You need someone,
preferably either your wife or someone that has struggled with this in the past
and knows how you may hide it, to be accountable to. Set it up where you guys
chat daily or weekly so that you are constantly confront about it. Honesty on
your part is key to getting the process started AND keeping it going in the
right direction. You MUST recognize that you have a serious problem and not
allow Satan to gain another square inch of your mind! As your wife learns more
about how your mind works she can become a great asset to you from keeping you
in check around town when lust may present itself to being there to keep you on
your toes with all of your media access. She’s your partner, your teammate, it
is her job to offer this sort of help. My friend, its time to get the process
started and head towards victory! Repent to your Father and let him show you
where to find accountability. Today is the day!
