Christians and Pornography: The Naked Truth

“I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me” (Psalm 101:3).

Grace and peace to the brethren, and greetings to those who are searching for the Light. 

As Christians, we struggle against the flesh and its worldly cares and desires, some of which can be quite dangerous.  Pornography is no exception.  Pornography has almost single-handedly destroyed morality in America, and our media-saturated culture makes sure that pornography is always just an arm’s length away, or a mouse click away, or a 1-800 speed call away, or one channel over on the remote, or just to the left or right on the magazine rack.  Pornography is the destroyer of souls. 

Scripture says that Satan, “like a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  When God asked Satan in the book of Job where he had just come from, Satan replied, “from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it” (Job 1:7).  These verses reveal two crucial aspects of Satan’s character: He is a relentless predator, and he never rests. 

Satan is always on the prowl for souls.  Even though we Christians have slipped through his fingers, Satan knows that if he can just get us to sin, there is always a chance that he can bring us under bondage.  And if he can bring us under bondage, even if he can’t take us to Hell with him, he can ruin our testimony.  And that is his end game.  Remember, Satan is “the accuser of the brethren” (Revelation 12:10). 

Bondage is Satan’s specialty, and bondage starts with sin.  Therefore, Christians must be ever on the lookout for ways in which Satan can cause us to sin.  In fact, next to the reading of the Word and witnessing, the avoidance of sin should be a high priority for every Christian. 

The best way to avoid sinning is to be holy.  Scripture says that we should be holy as God is Holy.  Holiness is not a passive activity for sinful creatures.  It involves deliberate action on our part.  We have to work at it. 

But God doesn’t have to work to be holy.  He is Holy.  The angels don’t have to try to be holy either.  They are holy.  Now, they were created with free will just like us.  But have you noticed that since Lucifer sinned and took a third of the angels with him, no other angels have rebelled?  I believe that since they don’t have bodies of sin like ours, once they make up their minds, their minds are made up.  But I digress. 

Again, we have to work to remain holy as God is holy.  This requires diligence.  As a matter of fact, Scripture say that we should guard our hearts with all diligence.  How do we guard our hearts?  By not setting any wicked thing before our eyes.  This is very important if we are to win the battle against pornography.  We cannot let it come before our eyes. 

The eyes are more than just “a window to the soul”:  they are a doorway to the soul.   Whatever comes in through the eyes is imprinted on the brain, and whatever is imprinted on the brain is indelibly imprinted on the soul—just like a computer.

Did you know that a computer is actually based on the human body?  It’s true.  The brain is like a CPU/hard disk.  It is like a hard disk in that it receives, stores, and retrieves information.  It is like a CPU in that it processes that information; that is, it takes the data and puts it into a usable context so that the human body can do something with it.  But the brain is completely impassive and logical: it operates on 1s and 0s.   It cannot discern good and evil. 

That’s where the heart comes in.  The heart is like an antivirus program.  A computer antivirus program analyzes data and determines whether the data is benign or malignant. Most antivirus programs can be configured so that data can be analyzed before it gets stored.  If the data is malignant, it will be identified and eradicated before it can infect the system.  If it is benign, it will be passed through and stored. 

But the human body differs from a computer in that data completely bypasses the heart (the antivirus program) and goes straight to the brain (the hard disk drive).  Whatever data comes in through the eyes and ears is stored in the brain whether it is harmful or not.  And once it is stored in the brain, it can be accessed again and again and again, even if a person does not want to access it. 

That is why it is extremely important that as Christians, we be careful what we allow our eyes to see and our ears to hear.  Once an image is seen or a sound heard, it is stored indefinitely.  Bad information, like a virus, once stored, begins to wreak havoc on the system, and performance is degraded.  The entire system could ultimately be destroyed.  To restore the system to proper functionality, the virus must be identified, isolated, and eradicated. 

Whether it is a computer or a person, the process of eliminating the virus and restoring the system to proper functionality can get very expensive.  In terms of souls, it is priceless. The key, then, is to be proactive rather than reactive.  It is dangerous to wait until the virus has become a part of the system before we act.  We have to control what comes in through our eyes and ears before it can make it to the brain and infect and possibly destroy the system.

The first step in doing this is to recognize that we are vulnerable.  We have to recognize that we are not impenetrable.   We must also recognize that there is someone out there writing malicious programs for the express purpose of destroying our lives.   That someone is Satan. 

The second step is to familiarize ourselves with Satan’s methods.  Paul says that we should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices.  Now, we don’t have to study Satan or his ministers to do this.  There are countless apologetics ministries dotting the Christian landscape all claiming to be experts on all sorts of religions, yet the Christian church is as confused now as it ever was.  Why?  Because this activity is neither prudent nor scriptural. 

God would rather we be wise concerning good and ignorant concerning evil (Romans 16:19).  We must only familiarize ourselves with the Word of God.  Once we know what is of God it’s not hard to then know what is not of God.  Read the Bible. 

The Bible has this to say about pornography: 

“Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter…it is wickedness” (Leviticus 18:17). 

Pornography, then, is not of God, but of Satan. 

Since pornography is not of God, we should fight it.  This is the third step.  The Bible never tells us to run from evil.  We are to resist the devil, and he will flee from us (James 4:7).  There are several ways to do this.

The first way is the most obvious.  We should rebuke Satan as Jesus rebuked him when He was tempted in the wilderness.  When we are tempted in our mind to sin, we must identify whence came that temptation.  Scripture says that God doesn’t tempt any man (James 1:13).  So it is Satan who tempts us with pornography.  We must, therefore, rebuke Satan by saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” (Matthew 16:23).  

Then we must combat that sinful thought with righteous thoughts.  The Bible says we must think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8-10).  When you are tempted to look at pornography, start thinking virtuous thoughts.  Read the Bible.  The Bible is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy.  So read it when the Enemy comes in like a flag.

We can also sing songs of praise to God.  True gospel music and hymns fill all of the above criteria.  The Bible says that God inhabits our praises.  If we, therefore, sing praise songs, the Spirit will fill our hearts and minds, and Satan will have to flee.  This absolutely works. I’m a witness.

Lastly, we should take steps to avoid pornography altogether.  It is nearly impossible for us to avoid all pornography as it has become socially acceptable.  We are a part of society; so is pornography.  It is inevitable, then, that the twain shall someday meet.   But we must do everything in our power to keep that meeting from happening, or at least to control the terms of that meeting.  We must control our access to pornography.

We must not only control our access to pornography, but we must also control pornography’s access to us.  Satan is always trying to circumvent our defenses by coming in under the radar.  He will find a way to get us to view pornography.  Did you know that pornography is a major part of Satan’s plan to destroy morality in America?  Did you know that Mystery Babylon’s plan for the total degradation of society calls for every single child in America and the world to have seen every conceivable sex act by age thirteen?

Having trouble digesting this?  Well consider that in 2008 The Cartoon Network in Nashville “mistakenly” aired porno for an hour.  Thankfully the offensive material was shown while most children would have been asleep.  But if even one child saw it, think of the damage that would have been done.  

Consider also that in 2009, a man bought his son a toy digital camera and was shocked to discover that the camera came pre-loaded with pornographic images.  And earlier this year, a New York woman found pornography on a children’s DVD she bought for her kids. It is important to note that both of these events had one thing in common: Disney.  Walt Disney has always had a penchant for pornography.  Look it up.

The Cartoon Network debacle is not hard to understand when you consider that the Cartoon Network is owned by Turner Broadcasting System Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc. and shares programming space with Adult Swim.

Listen to what Wikipedia has to say about Adult Swim:

“Adult Swim is an adult-oriented cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States…

“The network features myriad stylistically-variable animated and live-action shows, including original programming, syndicated shows, and Japanese anime, generally with minimal or no editing for content.  The programs featured on Adult Swim are geared toward an 18+ audience, in contrast to the originally all-ages daytime programming on Cartoon Network.

Broadcast since 2001, much of the network’s general content is known for its risqué, unorthodox and often bizarre presentation, while many of the series’ features are developed in stark contrast with traditional American television programs.  In the United States, Adult Swim has, over the course of its history frequently cycled through and aired either recent or older features of adult animation.” 

Tuner’s foray into children’s programming is not surprising when you consider that he is a high-ranking adept of the Mysteries.  Their agenda: the destruction of Christianity and all Christians.  One way they are attempting to do this is by destroying our children’s innocence.   

Clearly then, it is crucial to guard our eyes and ears and to control our access to pornography and pornography’s access to us.  This may entail drastic action.  It may mean cancelling our cable subscriptions.  It may mean blocking outgoing 1-800 number calls.  It may mean cancelling our internet subscriptions.  It may mean restricting our cell phones from receiving graphics files.  But whatever we have to do to guard our hearts we must do it. 

This is especially true if Jesus has delivered you from pornography.  There is an old adage that says, “Once bitten, twice shy.”  The modern version of this is “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”  The message is clear: once you have run into a tree and gotten a knot on your head, from that moment on, all trees are suspect. 

We do this with everything but sin.  Often even after we have been delivered from terrible bondage, we somehow feel that we can still wallow in the mud with the pigs and not get dirty.  If you are recovering from an addiction to pornography, no matter how slight, you must avoid it at all costs. 

Let me share something with you.  At one time in my life, I was addicted to pornography.  It was very strange that this could happen given that I went through my entire military career and never saw one X-rated movie.  Even though I was not saved, I knew it was bad business.  Now, my addiction wasn’t bad, in that I never bought pornography, neither from a bookstore nor an Internet site, and wasn’t obsessed with it.  But, it got to the point that, if I was on my computer, it was a sure bet that at some point I was going to be watching pornography. 

It started when I would get spam emails from pornography sites.  And let me tell you: just what showed up in my spam box was enough.  It was so graphic, I couldn’t believe I was getting it for free.  And that was the plan.  It was ingenious.  They would send me just enough to pique my interest, because they knew that at some point, I would follow the links to their site.  And I did.  Only once there, they said I had to pay for “premium” content.  There I drew the line. 

When I realized what was happening to me, I changed email providers.  Only now it was too late: the seed had already been planted.  I started surfing the net looking for free content; and I found it.  You see, Satan has something for everybody.  If you’re willing to pay for it, he will give it to you, and if you’re not, he will still give it to you.  Because money is not the object: it’s your soul he’s after.  Satan is looking for slaves. 

There is a happy ending to this story.  Like I said, I wasn’t heavily addicted.  So, when I got saved, the Spirit gave me the strength to say no.  And I never looked back.  But don’t think for one minute that Satan has left me alone.  Remember, he never sleeps.  He is always trying to lure you back into his camp. 

About six months ago I noticed that ads containing scantily clad women started popping up when I would check my email.  One in particular was for a cruise ship company and featured a woman dressed in a string bikini looking out over the ocean and with her back (and backside) facing the viewer. 

This had Satan written all over it.  I let this go on for months until the Spirit let me know that this was not good.  He told me that I needed to take some action immediately.  So I ordered the provider’s “Plus” service which for $19.99 a year includes POP (Post Office Protocol) mail and allows me to receive email via email client software that is available for free as part of virtually all operating systems.

This allows me to get my mail without having to log on to their site and see their offensive ads.  So for the price of a pizza, Coke, and a Twinkie, I avoid the temptation that leads many into the pit of pornography. 

You see Satan rarely entices us to commit grievous sins like pornography outright.  He prefers to initiate us into this kind of sin by degrees.  He baits the hook and gets you to bite.  Then he drags you a little ways.  When you’ve eaten all the bait off the hook, he re-baits it, and you bite it again and get dragged a little farther.  And each time the bait gets a little bigger—and so does the hook.  Then one day, you find that the hook is set in your jaws so deep, that you can’t get it out, and when you look up, you find that Satan has dragged you all the way to the cannery.  Then it’s too late.  You’re cat food. 

That’s why it’s important to realize how Satan works so you can recognize when you’re being baited.  For only when you know that you’re being baited can you take the proper steps to avoid Satan’s hook. 

Not only is pornography an abomination in God’s eyes, but it is also a major cause of violent crime, including sexual assault and murder.   On January 24, 1989, condemned serial killer, Ted Bundy, in an interview given shortly before his execution, made this chilling admission: 

“Those of us who have been so influenced by violence in the media, particularly pornographic violence, are not some kind of inherent monsters. We are your sons and husbands. We grew up in regular families. Pornography can reach in and snatch a kid out of any house today. It snatched me out of my home 20 or 30 years ago. As diligent as my parents were…

“I’ve lived in prison for a long time now, and I’ve met a lot of men who were motivated to commit violence. Without exception, every one of them was deeply involved in pornography – deeply consumed by the addiction. The F.B.I.’s own study on serial homicide shows that the most common interest among serial killers is pornography.”

 “[T]here are those loose in their towns and communities, like me, whose dangerous impulses are being fueled, day in and day out, by violence in the media in its various forms – particularly sexualized violence. What scares me is when I see what’s on cable T.V. Some of the violence in the movies that come into homes today is stuff they wouldn’t show in X-rated adult theatres 30 years ago.

“[T]here are forces at loose in this country, especially this kind of violent pornography, where, on one hand, well-meaning people will condemn the behavior of a Ted Bundy while they’re walking past a magazine rack full of the very kinds of things that send young kids down the road to being Ted Bundys. That’s the irony.”

Did that not raise goose bumps on your arms?  It did mine.  Ted Bundy, a convicted serial killer, who confessed to raping and killing dozens of girls and young women, the youngest of whom was only twelve years old, said that it all started with pornography. 

Certainly some will say that this was merely a cop out; that Bundy just didn’t want to take responsibility for his crimes.  What people do not understand is that although Bundy committed the crimes, Satan was ultimately responsible. 

You must understand that when you are enthralled by pornography—when you are under its spell—you are under demonic influence.  And when you are under demonic influence, you no longer have the ability to reason.  You have lost it.  Bundy’s next statement proves this in chilling fashion: 

Interviewer: “After you committed your first murder, what was the emotional effect? What happened in the days after that?”

Bundy: “It was like coming out of some horrible trance or dream.  I can only liken it to…being possessed” 

Convinced?  Watching pornography results in demonic possession.  This is consistent with the Bible, wherein God says that those who commit such acts are under a generational curse.  It is entirely possible that Bundy’s predilection for pornography was handed down to him.  If we take part in it, we not only curse ourselves, but our children and their children as well. 

It is important to point out that Bundy came from a Christian family.  Yet, as he said, pornography reached in and snatched him out of his home.  We’ve been warned. 

Can you understand now why it is so important that we as Christians guard our hearts with all diligence?  We are at war, and the Enemy is ruthless.  Pornography is only one of Satan’s devices, but it is one of his most potent weapons.  Watch out for it. 

If you are addicted to pornography, you may be under a generational curse.  Click here to find out how you can be set free. 

The podcast to this teaching is available at the iTunes Store for use with your iPhone, iPod, or other mp3 player.  Subscribe to our podcast for free here.  For your convenience, it is also provided below.

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You may view the interview with Ted Bundy below.

 

Below is the true story of a teenaged boy who struggled with porn addiction.

Be encouraged and look up; your redemption draweth nigh. 

The Still Man

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