Whenever a professing Christian tells me that he has a problem with pornography, I immediately think of idolatry. His image of what God is like is erroneous. What does he think God is doing while he is looking at pornography? If asked if he would ever look at porn in a worship service, he would probably say that he wouldn’t. He thinks that the Almighty--the ever-present and all-seeing God is confined to a building we wrongly call a “church.” This error is often perpetuated by worship leaders who talk about “entering” the presence of God for worship, when we are always in His presence. He’s there in the bedroom as lust-filled eyes feed upon porn. He’s there in the corridors of the human mind, as unclean images are displayed on the screen of the imagination.
These are days in which it is common for men to have “accountability partners” when it comes to the issue of lust. It means that we confide in a Christian brother and let him know how we are doing in our moral battles. We become accountable to him. The problem with that is that if I am going to secretly commit adultery in my heart through lust, I’m not going to have a problem when it comes to lying to someone about my moral state. It is far more sensible to make God our accountability partner. He’s the One we should be accountable to now, because He’s the One we will be accountable to on Judgment Day. The Scriptures tell us “Surely his salvation is near them that fear him…” (Psalm 85:9). It’s the fear of God that is missing when we feel at liberty to gaze at Bathsheba. To be continued…
