he Christian life is like
taking a hike. We’re walking, we’re walking, up hill and down. But not just
any old aimless meandering kind of hike. Decisive walking. We’re moving
toward a destination—the fullness of what God designed us to be. We don’t
want to settle for second, third or fourth best. We want God’s best for us.
So during the season
of Lent we’ve walked with Christ, asking him to remove any obstacles that
might stop us dead in our tracks. I hope you’ve discovered as I have that sin
isn’t just a silly little word, it is an addictive word, a word that rips our
soul and emotions and relationships apart. And when it hardens like asphalt
in our lives, it becomes dispositional—part of who we are; it misshapes us and
keeps us from God’s best.
What are we talking
about this morning? Well the papers are carrying stories about Hillary and
Obama, about the fluctuating market and the home lending debacle. In church
we’re talking about the Bible, fellowship, stewardship, and faithfulness.
Any of those topics I can do; so can you. But when’s the last time someone
stepped into the pulpit and said, “Good morning, the topic of my address is,
“Lust.” Reaction? Shocked silence.
Clearly, there is a
silence across the land. With every second that we are silent, $4 billion is
being spent on this deadly sin; every second of our silence is filled with 30
million people mesmerized by tantalizing pictures on the internet.
While we
are silent, 90 % our eight year olds and their older brothers doing their
homework have discovered porn sites. An alarming number continue to return
again and again.
While we
are silent, a new sex movie is being produced every 39 minutes to lure more
kids, moms, and sisters, and fathers into addiction to lust.
While we
are silent, the fastest growing clients of the sex industry are not dirty old
men, but eight to fourteen year old kids.
While we
are silent, over 1,000,000 sites are pouring sexual filth into living rooms
across the land.
While we
are silent, the porn kings have taken daughters—pre-teens and up—and used them
to generate more profits than the combined annual income of professional
football, baseball, and basketball. Lust has brought her kingpins more annual
profits than NBC, CBS, and ABC put together. And we have been silent.
So let’s put a face
to one of this deadly sin’s victims. Twenty-four years ago Pastor Rog tied
the knot at our wedding. Since then, Pastor Roger has gone on to build small
churches into powerful centers of worship and world-wide ministries. His
proclamation of Scripture is so engaging that forget what time it is when he’s
talking.
“Did you
hear about Roger?” my dad asked me in our weekly phone conversation not long
ago. “He fell.” Fell? I wondered. “Yeah, he turned out to be a sex addict;
the stuff’s all over his church computer.” Addicted to porn? The guy who
performed my wedding? The godly guy who knows and teaches Scripture? Takes
a deadly sin to destroy a ministry and in this case it wasn’t greed, sloth, or
pride but the sin that we refuse to name in worship—lust.
In the
aftermath of discovery, Roger went through severe shame, lost his church,
wounded his kids, and worst of all, he betrayed the trust of woman of his
life.
To be
honest, one sermon alone can’t possibly confront lust in all of its variegated
forms. Lust is no respecter of persons—it is a ravenous tiger always present
and always prowling close to wherever people are found. It uses high speed,
cable, wireless, cells, MP3s, and Ipods. It crouches among magazines and
glamorizes billboards. My comments today, therefore, are only scratches on a
deep and festering wound in humanity. So I’m just going to hold up one tiny
piece of it as representative of how dangerous and deadly this sin can be.
By the time I
was 13 years old, my family had moved ten times. That’s a lot of times to be
uprooted from your friends if you’re a shy kid. This time I got stuck out in
Sedan, Minnesota, population 15. That summer I was pretty much under house
arrest—my parents were away during the day; not a soul even close to my age
lived near me; couldn’t drive and the nearest real town was over nine miles
away.
Wandering about
my prison camp of a town one afternoon, I made a discovery. Something hidden
. . . something secret and . . . alluring. I found myself captivated by
slick, perfumed pages of airbrushed, unclothed women. Even with clothes on,
they sure didn’t look like mom. It was almost as if they were reaching
through the pages beckoning bored, unsupervised kids to come to them for a
good time. I was shocked yet mesmerized and enthralled by what I saw.
If this had been
one-time event, I could laugh it off as a coming of age thing. But for me it
wasn’t that simple. That afternoon I felt the hooks of allurement embedded in
my emotions. As a 13 year old, I had no clue how to manage the loneliness
and pain I felt. But now I did—those pictures numbed the pain and gave me a
fix. Yet each time I returned, I felt the hooks of lust go deeper and deeper
into my emotions.
My personal struggle
with porn followed me into university and on into seminary. It would be years
from that first encounter before I could manage to untangle the confused
layers of lust and confusion that gripped an innocent kid long ago. Yet it
was in the grip of Lust that I also began to become aware of the saving Grace
of Jesus.
We’re not alone—you
or I—in our fight to live an honorable, God-filled life. We do have help.
But first, let’s stop by the Garden on our way to Grace. You won't die.
God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you'll see what's really
going on. You'll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way
from good to evil.
Behind any deadly
sin there’s always a deeper temptation than the sin itself. God sets the
boundaries. And within the boundaries are everything anyone will ever need to
live in wholeness and freedom and integrity. But that’s just the point, what
if there are other ways to live outside the boundaries, things
that are also wholesome, free, and fun?
That’s the line we
hear coming from the tempter’s script. You won’t die. You’re not
going to get hurt. At least that’s the part of the story the porn industry
wants us to believe. That we can cross the boundaries and catch a little
pleasure and not be hurt whatever.
Only problem is,
research is finally catching up to the industry. And the slick packaged lust
that promises pleasure and fun with no commitment and no messy relationships
is only now starting to show its true colors. Research shows that in an
abnormally high percentage of cases pornography is addicting—especially if
viewed at young ages. In a survey of over 500 Christians at a retreat, over
90% admitted that they felt disconnected from God because lust, porn, or
fantasy had gained a foothold in their lives. And the XXX Church reports that
their research suggests that up to 70% of Christians admit that they struggle
with porn.
Yes, something does
die, admit many clergy, kids, moms, and dads. Your freedom is the first thing
to go. When people really get into the habit of looking for and longing for
sexually explicit images, many just can’t choose to walk away. Other research
shows, that “virtual love” relationships negatively impacts real-time,
real-life relationships. Still others admit that such habits hurt their
relationship to God. Worst of all, of course, is the damage such viewing does
to children.
This morning there
are three things you can do if you feel that lust is becoming deadly and
dangerous in your life. First, ask God for help. Here’s a great way to
begin, God keep me from lying to myself; give me the privilege of knowing
your law. Help me to lead of life of integrity in my own home. I will refuse
to look at anything vile and vulgar. I will stay away from every evil.
Memorize it. Say it daily. Let that prayer be a conscious, yet natural
response whenever you feel tempted.
Second,
seek help appropriate to the place you’re at in your struggle. Help may come
in the form of a caring, confidential friend, a book, a counselor, or a
support group like sexaholics anonymous.
Finally,
develop accountability. Find a mentor, someone who has skill in listening and
not in dishing out solutions. Or you might find an accountability
partner—someone who like you, also struggles with lust. Together you can
encourage and push each other to remain sexually sober.
Does this
really work? Yes, it does. That’s how I was able to walk away from the
deathly grip of nineteen years of Lust. Through prayer, friends, and
accountability. You, too, can walk away through the powerful grace of Jesus
Christ.
Remember,
whenever and wherever Lust rules, someone’s getting hurt. You are. Someone
close to you is getting hurt—a wife, a friend, a child—who deserves better.
Lust can only gratify, but not satisfy. So draw from the Source—God’s love,
God’s faithfulness, and God’s healing. May God be with you as you fight the
good fight of faith. Amen.
