Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Sexual Ethics”
Our Bible verse for today: “But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:28 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Pornography is a sin”
I remember when I was a young boy in the late 50s and early 60s that women’s underwear ads were rare and a bit controversial. I have to admit that I did look for them in the Sunday ads in the newspaper (but I always felt a little guilty if I found one).
Today naked women adorn the covers of magazines at the check-out counters in most stores; steamy love scenes are regular fare on television shows during the “family” hour; and sexy models in Victoria’s Secret lingerie sell everything from beer to bacon.
Journalist Pamela Paul says that we now live in a “pornified” culture. I think she’s right. The glorification of sex has overwhelmed us. It’s everywhere. We are over-sexed. You would think that when something becomes so overdone, so pervasive, we would become desensitized to it. Apparently the exact opposite is true. As a nation we seemed to be obsessed with sex and our appetite for evermore explicit sexual images seems to be continually increasing.
The stuff that previous generations considered “hardcore”, such as Playboy magazine, is considered pretty tame by today’s standards. Today the hardcore stuff comes to us over the internet and it is seriously hardcore. We’re talking about gay-porn, child-porn, group sex, bestiality, and more.
Statistics vary but they suggest that somewhere around 60% of men view pornography on a regular basis. One study I saw recently said that perhaps 50% of men “in the church” view pornography at least once a month and 20% of pastors admitted to it! And women are not exempt. Those same studies tell us that 20-25% of women admit to viewing pornography once or more a month.
Pornography is not innocent. Jesus taught in Matthew 5:28 that imagining yourself in the commission of a sinful act is effectively no different than actually committing the sinful act. As far as He is concerned, if you imagined yourself doing it then you did do it.
As the people of God we are exhorted to be holy because God is holy. We are to strive for purity in thought, word, and deed. Paul wrote, “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable – if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise – dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8 (HCSB).
Pornography pollutes the mind, diminishes purity, and corrupts character. As Christians we must be intentional about safeguarding our mind and heart from the pornographic images and suggestions that have become so much a part of the culture we live in.
Tomorrow, as we begin to draw our study to a close, we will consider some actions and strategies we can all take to honor God and to effectively engage our culture in this area of sexual ethics.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 