Realization. Light Bulb.

In the car on the way home tonight, I had an epiphany.

In my continuing battle between my flesh and the Spirit, in my daily war to put my sin to death, God has given me grace to give me a picture that stopped me in my thoughts.

I read a fantastic post by John Piper today (link). In it, Piper pleads with us to see that lusts of all kinds, but specifically sexual lusts, diminish the majesty of God, and threaten not only to take away a precious treasure from us, but to heap death upon us instead. I've been thinking all day about this post, and my flesh has repeatedly risen up to combat the truth that God is showing me through His servant. As it was in the car on my way home tonight.

Since I've struggled with the temptation of pornography, one effective reminder that God has given me has been that a vast majority of "stars" in this field are actually victims of unspeakable evil. This knowledge has made it very easy to avoid a lot of what is out there. But the flesh always finds a way to justify its' tempting with the "stars" that are willing to put themselves out there.

So by God's grace I'm thinking on this article, and my flesh is combating the truth, and the Spirit in me is fighting back, so there is this dialog going on. And "those that are willing" comes into my mind as an excuse that I've struggled to have an answer for. Then the answer begins to appear. Women, and men, who willingly show themselves to the world in a way God only intended to be private between a husband and wife, are in reality prostitutes. Selling their physical body for monetary gain. Though you may not have to pay any money to partake of what they are offering, they are giving you something regardless. They are peddling a lie. A corruption. A perversion. Which, when it comes down to it, is the raw form of sin.

A simple definition I use of sin involves taking something good that God has made, and twisting it to oppose His purpose and the goodness He intended. Porn fits that definition perfectly. And as Proverbs puts it, the way of the harlot goes to death (Prov 7:27). Then the answer becomes clearer. There are others who offer what seems good at first, but ultimately ends in the downfall of those who heed the call. The false prophet. The liar. Those who twist the gospel of Christ into something that glorifies man and not God.

To be explicit, this realization means that either:

Porn Stars == Victims of some of the deepest evil men can do.

Or:

Porn Stars == Benny Hinn. Joel Osteen.

Both of these should be easy for Christians to despise, as they are both clear affronts to the God we so desperately desire to serve with all our hearts. There is no desire to partake when we are grieved by what we are looking at. Now it's easier to be grieved no matter who is tempting you in this way.