Ok, so I’m not exactly in the pop culture loop. I know you are surprised, right? But I have noticed here lately there seems to be a growing market for the desperate housewife types. From high-profile, raunchy novels to movies about male strippers, the world is offering women an outlet for their sexual frustration. “Oh to be kissed like THAT!” is the desire of our heart.
So can my Christian faith co-exist with this entertainment? Can my marriage remain unharmed by the influence of these types of pleasure?
I want to reference back to an article from a couple of weeks ago, on pornography. Just as deadly as porn is to our holiness and our marriages, the seemingly more benign, culturally acceptable versions for women are as well. Do not be deceived. The enemy of your soul has laid his trap.
Let’s feminize Jesus’ teaching from Matthew 5:29-30:
But I say, any woman who even looks at, reads a book about, or fantasizes about, a man with lust, who is not her husband, has already committed adultery with him in her heart. So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. -Jesus
That pretty well has the holiness covered. But the teachings of Jesus are full of similar admonitions. He simply desires your utmost purity of heart. He warns us:
“Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)
And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” Mark 7:18-23
I know that there are Christian women reading this who will scoff. They don’t want to give up their fun. I know them. I have even watched some of them fall. What is crazy to me about that verse in Mark 7 is that I used to separate all those fruits of the heart, as if they stood alone. But life has shown me that once the evil thoughts are allowed to penetrate one’s heart, the rest of those things will grow like interlocking thorns of the souls.
I have watched women who started reading the Cosmo sex articles and romance novels. Maybe it wasn’t the best thing to do, but it wouldn’t go farther. But the discontentment with their ho-hum life filled with kids, chaos, bills, and less-than-studly husbands, became a struggle. The struggle within grew and the lies began to flow along with excuses to avoid being home. “I have to work late” or “It’s girl’s night out.” Those excursions led to propositions from other men at the bar or on the dance floor. Those propositions were deflected for a short time, but the way they made these women feel was exhilarating, like a real life romance novel. Eventually, the propositions were not refused until they found themselves in the bed of another man. Maybe after the first one-night stand, remorse followed. But even then, the pull to that life was stronger than the desire to be a wife and mother. The pride, greed, envy and slander and wickedness all worked together as the supporting cast for what ended in a full-blown affair. Adultery. Jesus pleads with us. He warns us that THIS is what will defile you.
So when you think that reading 50 Shades of Grey or catching the late night viewing of Magic Mike are innocent fun. I beg you, think again.
Read the follow-up: Magic Mike or Tragic Mike? Part 2: How Do I Break the Chains of Sexual Sin?
