Posted on 01/09/2002 7:29:19 AM PST by truthandlife
Pornography – the written and/or graphically portrayed uncovering of nakedness, especially in acts of fornication – grips the hearts and lives of many Christian men and, according to recent surveys, twenty percent of ministers. It tempts potential patrons from its store shelves and by mail, and it champions over three million websites, enticing over twenty percent of online viewers.
Porn appeals to an undisciplined culture (both inside and outside the church) that refuses to mature mentally and sexually. Specifically, many Christian men of all ages find it easier to view porn than to fulfill their God-given responsibilities to glorify their Lord and to love their spouses, their children, their estates, and their congregations.
As Christians, we would expect unregenerate men, who are in bondage to the sin of their Adamic nature, to embrace no conviction against viewing pornography. These men, as are all men before coming to Christ, are corrupt by nature and in need of spiritual rebirth, needing to call upon Christ Jesus for salvation. These men will only curtail or cease viewing porn when they are threatened civically (being jailed or imprisoned), professionally (getting fired), or domestically (being sued for divorce).
To the Christian, porn appeals to the workings of sin in the flesh (Rom. 7:23) that must yet be submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is unbiblical for the world or the church to think that a Christian cannot be tempted to view and to succumb to the viewing of porn during a time or times of weakness. Yet, having yielded to the beguiling temptation of viewing porn, the Christian must realize, as spoken by Christ Jesus, that he has sinned by committing fornication (in the case of the unmarried) or adultery (in the case of the married) in the heart – sins which Jesus says will deprive one of eternal life.
For the Christian minister, porn can be alluring as he manages his pressures to serve others, his solitary work environment, his mental exhaustion, and perhaps, his frustrations resulting from his entering the ministry as a novice not fully disciple himself. If he also has relationship and sexual difficulties at home, then porn becomes for him an easy, seemingly victimless escape. However, when he views porn, he jeopardizes the ministry that his God has entrusted to him. 1 Timothy 3:4-5 is clear that the minister’s household must be in order for him to retain his ministry, and, thus, his admitting his habitual porn use exposes problems in his own household, which he must correct lest he be ministerially disqualified. Often, the tremendous guilt that follows is difficult to jettison because the minister is supposedly required to be not only “perfect” but is also forbidden to confess his faults to his brethren (contrary to James 5:16), which would aid in his repentance and restoration.
All Christians: Shall you risk bringing reproach upon the name of our Lord Jesus for a season of lust-filled escape? Shall you risk destroying your own Christian reputations, marriages, families, and estates? Shall you risk jail or prison to fulfill your potentially illegal lusts before calling upon the name of our Lord to save you from yourselves? Do you realize that your viewing Internet porn can be and most likely is being monitored, if not by your bosses at work, then potentially by credit card companies and by porn sites themselves? Furthermore, have you considered that the hardness of your heart and your refusal to repent of this sin may prove indeed that you are no Christian at all, and are, therefore, in danger of eternal damnation? “I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” (Job 31:1).
Never forget that all men will eventually appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for the deeds done in this life. We, therefore, strongly urge both Christians and non-Christians to repent of this heinous sin and to beg God’s gracious pardon. Christians, if you confess your sin, God is faithful and just to forgive you of your sin. Get rid of your porn regardless of its form or format. Don’t place yourself in a position to view porn. Don’t allow your mind to be idle and filled with pornographic fantasies and thoughts. On the contrary, plan to stay mentally active and to replace pornographic thoughts with pure, holy, and natural thoughts (see Philippians 4:8). Pray for God’s grace to deliver you from the desire to view porn for His name’s sake. Pursue spiritual maturity and love (toward your wife, your children, your church, and your Lord) instead of gratifying your selfish, sinful desires.
Those of you who are spiritual are to restore, with a spirit of meekness, those who have fallen into this sin lest you also be tempted. God will forgive the sins of those who truly repent and turn from their sin.
He also chased the money-changers out of the Temple with a bull whip.
What's with the continual connection in your brain between children, and sexuality?
You are suffering a significant sickness of the mind, and should seek some kind of professional help.
And perhaps when you get to be Jesus, you can do that too.
But for now, maybe it's best for those claiming to follow his teachings, to actually follow his teachings.
Don't you think?
No, what you are doing is what you do so well, ignoring what the reply says and just looking to start an argument. But this time, we are talking about the Beatitudes and if we are going to discus it, you must read it first, for otherwise how can we discus that in which you refuse to read?
OWK, if you are going to insist on commenting on the word of God as written by the Word of God, you need to read the word of God or stay where you are knowlegeable. For your lack of knowledge in matters of the Bible are becoming all to obvious.
I have no doubt that you are above average in intelligence, but when you get into Scripture, your lack is obvious and to be quite honest with you, it is starting to get tiring.
Your knowledge of the word of God reminds me of a quote from Congressman John E. Baldacci of Maine.
One night in the little town of Bethel, he was asked how one of his statements stood up agaisnt the US Constitution, His reply was: "I don't know anything about it and I don't care anything about it." Yet, he had sworn an oath to uphold it and even now oft times he says somthing and then attributes it to the Constitution, when more often than not his quote is closer to the communist manifesto.
OWK, don't be like Baldacci, read Matthew 5-7 and then we will discuss it.
Alas
Was it because your were spending too much time online or was it the Free Republic site in particular that got you axed?
I think you've missed the point here. Jesus doesn't say "ignore sin," as you would have us conclude. I think you'd agree that it is neither loving nor compassionate to ignore self-destructive behavior by friends or family.
By the way, the only things Jesus "commanded" were that we love God with all our heart, soul, and mind; and that we love our neighbors as ourselves.
Jesus also said that we are not the ones who get to judge the eternal results of sins -- that is, it is not up to us to decide whether this or that sinner is going to hell. There are certainly plenty of Christians who go that extra step.
But an injunction against judgement is not the same as a ban on pointing out sins.
I keep looking and I'm not kidding.
I guess according to a_witness you and i have been watching it because we really have a surpressed desire to become slave traders.
That must explain the leather undies and riding crop. And the handcuffs must mean that my lady has a secret desire to be a police officer.
I approve of janitor as an important avocation - someone had to do it. But I wouldn't want my kids going into that field. Duh.
That's not true. Pornography is an extension of the self, just as our words here are an extension of ourselves. Pornography is simply lewd or perverse conduct displayed through a medium.
Would it make much difference to you whether you were stripped in a public square or if photos of your naked body were displayed in the public square?
Are you incapable of condemning anything without making specious comparisons to drugs. First off you have to understand that porn isn't a drug. For one this it's legal, for another it involves a lot more people. Next you have to understand the difference between an activity and the world that's heavily involved in that activity. The world around drug use is much more dangerous than the drugs themselves, I'd have a much bigger problem with my kid being in a crack den than doing crack. While the two are related they are not congruant, not all people that do crack wind up wasting their life away in abandoned smelly hovels surrounded by adicts. The world of full time professional porn is odd and has way too much heavy drug use to be healthy, I wouldn't want a kid of mine in that world. On the other hand if they can manage to make a couple of quick amateur videos and get out with spare money I don't see a problem; it's their body and their life.
Yeah I know, trading slaves is 8 at the office and then back to the wife and kids
Ahh, more BS from the people that don't know anything except how other people should live. For one thing there weren't any slaves everybody was there voluntarily, for another the usual strip club shift is 4 hours, 6 on the "party days" (Friday and Saturday night). You got the back to spouse and kids part right though.
I've also flipped burgers for a living;
No shame in that
Man do you got that wrong. It's probably the worst job for ones self esteem I've ever seen. You get paid nothing, nobody has the slightest respect for you when they find out what you do, you're exhausted all the time so forget going to school to find better work or even just hitting the pavement to find better work, you smell like pickles all the time, I was finding sesame seeds in odd corners of my home for years after I finally got out, and you have nightmare about it for life (any other fastfood vets out there? when was the last time you had the timer nightmare? you know the one I'm talking about, everybody I've ever talked to that worked fastfood has had this nightmare).
Why not just sell them ? it pays better (a LOT better)
The money is for them putz. It's a simple equation really, if your kid is stuck working a not good job to make ends meet which one should they take the one that pays at least $100 a night or the one where they're lucky to get $200 every two weeks. Meanwhile they're only working 3 or 4 nights a week, 4 hours a night, great for going to school. Even into the more hardcore elements of the smut industry, you're average porn movie takes about 1 month to make and the average porn star makes 4 movies a year and pulls a solid 60 grand a year for it. Not a bad living, arguably a bad way to make a living but that's for each person to decide for themselves. There are plenty of people in this world that would consider the office I work in hell if they had to do what I do.
Which reminds me of the very good looking Bay Area laywer I know... Alas also another story for another day.
when she's 64
I won't give you her name, I don't have her permission to give her life story. The basic version is that she put herself through 4 years of college and 3 years of law school by stripping. Passed the bar the first time out, got a job at a prestigious firm in the Bay. Said the hardest part about it was getting used to getting paid every other week instead of 4 nights a week (and the cut in pay was a little tough at first, especially since it turns out that business dresses are more expensive than lingerie, her work clothes budget went up dramatically). Suffice it to say that if you live in the Bay area and you have a lawyer that's a very attractive blonde just edging into her mid-thirties with a degree from the University of Arizona it could be her.
Presuming we are speaking of pornography that displays consenting adults, I see nothing lewd or perverse in sex.
Why do you?
Fine. There are all kinds of things that we, as individuals encounter in life. How we react to them is a matter of individual values and personal choices. Pornography is not something that can be "used" against us without our personal consent. This is an individual, not a governmental issue. As such, this forum seems to me to be an inappropriate venue for individual behavior modification.
1 ¶ But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
Now as for seductioon being a form of lust, again you are taking liberties with scripture, what Jesus said was
Mt 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
That is not what I would have you conclude at all.
I would have you conclude the only thing which a follower of the teachings of Jesus could rationally conclude. That sin is to be avoided, and that a relationship with God is requisite for salvation. And that peace, compassion, love, forgiveness, humility, and gentle witness, are the tools available to you, to help others develop a relationship with the Almighty.
And it is also important to remember that peace, compassion, love, forgiveness, humility, and gentle witness (the things Jesus commanded of you), are absolutely imcompatible with self-righteousness, scorn, abuse, mockery, indignation, and false-pious pride (all of which drive people away from your Lord).
At least that's what I'd say, If I was a believer.
Don't you think?
My point is that Jesus is not Alan Alda.
I will stack my knowledge of the Bible against yours, any day of the week.
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