The Digital Prostitute - Pornography
Published by Korey Buchanek under on 9:14 AM
March 22, 2012
There are days like today when my scripture reading makes me feel like an Israelite. You know those moments when they see God show up in ways that you and I only day dream about and then they go and do something stupid like make a golden calf out of gold. They see the Red Sea part and Pharaohs armies are consumed after they cross over on dry land, but then they grumble and ask to go back to bondage. Well, 1 Corinthians 6 slapped me pretty hard today to the point I thought I wouldn't write about it. However, this is why I write on my journal or blog. It's to remind me that scripture still speaks and that the Lord still expects me to remember what He's showing me. It's the understanding that I'm still imperfect and that my journey to know the heart of Christ continues to be a heavy cross to take up daily.
Chapter 6 of 1 Corinthians starts off by dealing with a rebuke against the people for bringing lawsuits against one another in the secular courts, but makes a segway like non other. He shifts in verse nine to force his reader to examine their own body and actions. Where it takes us is right at the heart of every pornography addict. As an individual that has wrestled with this in the past and if I were completely honest would have to admit that the mental ramifications continue to have a lasting effect through my spiritual journey, I understand the lie of the modern day prostitute. See porn addicts justify porn as a simple image with no real relational or physical connection which absolves them from thinking that they have committed adultery. We think the act of simply observing or watching an image or movie is innocent of any real significance. The enemy has created a perfect lie. He's created the digital prostitute. See a prostitute is someone who engages in sexual intercourse usually for money. We excuse it cause the addict justifies their actions by the absence of physical engagement with a prostitute and in many instances not paying for it. But ironically the problem lies in the engagement mentally.
In verse 15 I have to reconcile the understanding that my body is a member of Christ's. Which means an addict that claims a relationship in Christ is joining the eyes and mind of Christ in their addiction. An addiction that rests in an industry that was created for financial gain. Men and women in the pornography industry are in the industry to make money. So weather the addict pays for it or not doesn't exclude that fact that the physical participants, that are engaging the mind of the watcher, are making money based on my observation. To a recovering addict the mental damage is far greater than any physical encounter. We are created to remember. We are wired to recall the past. We are visual people. Which is why Paul is so specific in providing a solution in verse eighteen. Flee. Run. Escape the presence of immorality. Like Joseph running from the presence of Potiphar's wife. It's not just a mental thing, it's a physical act of never putting myself in the place where my mind is captured. Paul says, "Every other sin is outside the body, but real immorality is a man that sins against his own body." Meaning that my body is the property of Christ. I'm simply a steward of it. If I engage my mind or my eyes in sexual immorality then I'm choosing to engage Christ in the midst of my sin. Bottom line, sexual sin is more dangerous than any other physical act of sinful behaviour. It kills the mind and heart of the believer. It warps the way we see Christ and his creation. It brings a guilt and shame that mars the intentions of the Spirit's conviction in my life. It makes me numb to the very presence of Christ in me. Pornography is the greatest deception in the modern church. Sadly enough it's the topic that the church doesn't want to talk about while men and women every Sunday sit wrapped up in sexual bondage both mentally and spiritually.
Lord, give me the tenacity to guard my heart and my mind. Lord, as Your word in Joshua today called for your people to be courageous and strong allow me to heed those words. Give me the boldness to flee the thoughts and temptations of the enemy. Lord my hearts desire is to be a man of Godly character and integrity. I want to stand with those that find themselves in the midst of the struggle and help raise their countenance as men of Christ. I want more out of my relationship with You. I don't want to settle. I want to know Your heart. Give me the strength to be quick to repent and quick to listen to Your Spirit in my life when my mind wonders or heart fails. Father I love you.
There are days like today when my scripture reading makes me feel like an Israelite. You know those moments when they see God show up in ways that you and I only day dream about and then they go and do something stupid like make a golden calf out of gold. They see the Red Sea part and Pharaohs armies are consumed after they cross over on dry land, but then they grumble and ask to go back to bondage. Well, 1 Corinthians 6 slapped me pretty hard today to the point I thought I wouldn't write about it. However, this is why I write on my journal or blog. It's to remind me that scripture still speaks and that the Lord still expects me to remember what He's showing me. It's the understanding that I'm still imperfect and that my journey to know the heart of Christ continues to be a heavy cross to take up daily.
Chapter 6 of 1 Corinthians starts off by dealing with a rebuke against the people for bringing lawsuits against one another in the secular courts, but makes a segway like non other. He shifts in verse nine to force his reader to examine their own body and actions. Where it takes us is right at the heart of every pornography addict. As an individual that has wrestled with this in the past and if I were completely honest would have to admit that the mental ramifications continue to have a lasting effect through my spiritual journey, I understand the lie of the modern day prostitute. See porn addicts justify porn as a simple image with no real relational or physical connection which absolves them from thinking that they have committed adultery. We think the act of simply observing or watching an image or movie is innocent of any real significance. The enemy has created a perfect lie. He's created the digital prostitute. See a prostitute is someone who engages in sexual intercourse usually for money. We excuse it cause the addict justifies their actions by the absence of physical engagement with a prostitute and in many instances not paying for it. But ironically the problem lies in the engagement mentally.
In verse 15 I have to reconcile the understanding that my body is a member of Christ's. Which means an addict that claims a relationship in Christ is joining the eyes and mind of Christ in their addiction. An addiction that rests in an industry that was created for financial gain. Men and women in the pornography industry are in the industry to make money. So weather the addict pays for it or not doesn't exclude that fact that the physical participants, that are engaging the mind of the watcher, are making money based on my observation. To a recovering addict the mental damage is far greater than any physical encounter. We are created to remember. We are wired to recall the past. We are visual people. Which is why Paul is so specific in providing a solution in verse eighteen. Flee. Run. Escape the presence of immorality. Like Joseph running from the presence of Potiphar's wife. It's not just a mental thing, it's a physical act of never putting myself in the place where my mind is captured. Paul says, "Every other sin is outside the body, but real immorality is a man that sins against his own body." Meaning that my body is the property of Christ. I'm simply a steward of it. If I engage my mind or my eyes in sexual immorality then I'm choosing to engage Christ in the midst of my sin. Bottom line, sexual sin is more dangerous than any other physical act of sinful behaviour. It kills the mind and heart of the believer. It warps the way we see Christ and his creation. It brings a guilt and shame that mars the intentions of the Spirit's conviction in my life. It makes me numb to the very presence of Christ in me. Pornography is the greatest deception in the modern church. Sadly enough it's the topic that the church doesn't want to talk about while men and women every Sunday sit wrapped up in sexual bondage both mentally and spiritually.
Lord, give me the tenacity to guard my heart and my mind. Lord, as Your word in Joshua today called for your people to be courageous and strong allow me to heed those words. Give me the boldness to flee the thoughts and temptations of the enemy. Lord my hearts desire is to be a man of Godly character and integrity. I want to stand with those that find themselves in the midst of the struggle and help raise their countenance as men of Christ. I want more out of my relationship with You. I don't want to settle. I want to know Your heart. Give me the strength to be quick to repent and quick to listen to Your Spirit in my life when my mind wonders or heart fails. Father I love you.
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