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.
It's funny how you show up on every thread dealing with religion and tell everyone how you wish to have a polite, rational disscusion and later accuse believers of getting emotional and reverting to name calling.
Larry Flynt (and anyone else, for that matter) has no influence over those who choose not to be influenced. Are conservatives so weak that any source of 'negative' influence must be obliterated, or they will fall prey to it?
Nor is Aquinasfan that Jesus guy.
Your absolutely right.....BUT....it is not pornograhic.....The bible uses many examples of sins commited to teach us, but to say that lust pointed out in the bible is porno is ludricous....
Why do you?
Sexuality within marriage is a great gift form God. Copulating in public, however, is immoral and bestial.
‘Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ (Philippians 3:13,14)
The Word remember occurs often in Scripture. ‘Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth…’ ‘This do in remembrance of me…’ ‘Thou shalt remember all the way the Lord thy God hath led thee…"
"Remembrance is essential to genuine religion. And so is forgetfulness. Remembering and forgetting are two sides of the same coin. True forgetfulness means the discovery of something else worth remembering. It is the displacement of one remembrance with another, which is more ennobling. Paul only forgot what was behind as he focused on the prize toward which God had called him. We should all forget. But only on the condition that we aspire."
Everyone makes mistakes. It is part of our heritage that we are capable of them. An oyster makes no mistakes. It doesn't have a mind that will permit it to abandon it instincts. It is not good to wander around in the cemetery of our blunders, reading epitaphs of past errors and opportunities lost. Michelangelo formed his famous statue of David the shepherd by using a block of marble, that had been seriously flawed by a previous sculptor. Similarly, it is possible for us to produce good by allowing our mistakes to be swallowed up with better things."
"No-one is exempt from sorrow. Therefore, much human happiness depends on forgetting what has happened to us by contemplating the blight that rests on others. When John Bright's young wife lay dead in the family home, he was visited by Richard Cobden, who sought to comfort him. After words of consolation had been spoken, Cobden looked up and said, 'There are tens of thousands of homes in England at this moment, where wives, mothers and children are dying of hunger. Now, when the first paroxysm of grief is past, I would advise you to come with me and we will never rest until the Corn Law is repealed.’ Bright accepted the invitation and plunged himself into a campaign to relieve the sufferings of others. Thus he escaped the crushing weight of his own sorrows."
"Guilt is also an affliction that needs forgetting. But it is only treated thus when there is a far worthier preoccupation to take its place. Paul was able to leave behind the guilty remembrance of crimes against the Church only as he found new and superior pursuits. He did not have enough time or mental space to accommodate wasteful agonizings over past sins. Robert Louis Stevenson prayed, 'Help us with the grace of courage, that we be, none of us, cast down when we sit amidst the ruins of our happiness or our integrity…that we may be up and doing to rebuild our city."
"May God grant you a sacred forgetting of all that would keep you from a wholesome and fruitful sojourn in this world."
Says who? Is that a hidden Commandment? Seriously - I'm curious why this is such an issue.
I don't remember the story... senile moment I guess.
And my point, is that his instructions to those who followed him were quite specific and unambiguous. (and all too often ignored by those claiming to be his followers)
This is kind of like proving that stealing is evil. Either you get it or you don't.
The poster at whom the description was directed, chose to call another man's marriage wicked.
I stand by my observation.
What about written pornography?
This pains me to say this, but Christians, like non-Christians, come in varying levels of maturity. I also believe that many people join Christianity for the same fundamental reasons that many young people became Nazi's in pre-war Germany. Of course, I mean for this to span all groups which offer being part of an "inclusive benevolent" organization and not just Christianity.
I have, for years, seen "professing Christians" on this site reflect a decidedly non-Christian attitude toward others in their posts. Sometimes it means they are just still being worked on by God (as we all are). Sometimes it means they are only members of the church for their own personal gain (I could tell you stories).
They're only human and many of them, like you and me, mean well. This culture doesn't do a very good job of teaching social skills... BTW, regarding married men addicted to porn - my two cents worth: show me such a man (and many of them are Christians - I've seen their history and cache files) and I will show you a wife that restricts sex. Now all we're left with, regarding that situation, is the old chicken-or-egg argument.
Of course not. Don't be ridiculous.
My objection was to this: the wife doesn't care where the man gets his appitite.
In the real world, the wife very much does care. More to the point, if a man relies on pictures of other women to get him ready for sex with his wife, then it's quite probably that it's a marriage that's in trouble.
How about copulating in public with one's own spouse? Is that OK? (I sure hope so, otherwise I'm in big, BIG trouble.)
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