Ephesians 5:1-12
A national conference of church youth leaders was held at a hotel in the Midwest several years ago. At first the hotel manager was impressed by the friendly Christian witness of his guests, and he interacted very openly with the conference organizers as they shared their faith with him. But by the end of their conference they sensed a change in his attitude. When they asked him about it, the manager told them that he had checked to see how many guests had ordered adult movies, and he found that they had broken the previous record for any other convention in the history of the hotel. Concluding that Christians were just as lustful as everyone else, only more hypocritical about it, he lost all interest in our faith.
Lust is probably the murkiest and most troublesome of the Seven Deadly Sins, especially since it is generally such a hidden sin. So we need to expose lust for the unseen cancer it is in our lives, and to overcome it, with God’s help.
Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt. 5:27-28). In saying this, he’s telling us that there’s no safe or harmless way to lust. Regardless of our actions, the desire itself is the essence of its threat to our souls. Lust is a kind of Trojan horse, seemingly harmless but bearing hidden dangers.
You might have noticed that “sexual immorality” is invariably named at or near the top of the lists of sins in the Apostle Paul’s letters to the churches. Why do you suppose that is? I suspect that it’s because lust is the strongest of our natural impulses to overcome. And those warnings are as important as ever in the modern age, with its barrage of temptations through the pervasive reality of the media.
Most men struggle with the sin of lust, probably more than any other sin. We know that males are visually aroused, which explains the popularity of internet pornography or “gentlemen’s clubs,” (to use that ironic euphemism). Even seemingly respectable hotel chains offer “adult channels,” to their shame; it’s their dirty little secret. Advertisers and websites also know how to manipulate men with suggestive images and messages.
For women, lustful thoughts generally arise from their imaginations and through romantic fantasies, rather than visually. Hence, the success of books like “Fifty Shades of Grey” or historical romance novels and soap operas. But virtually all of us, men and women alike, face significant challenges from our sexuality. It’s an area in which the two forces of “flesh and spirit” struggle mightily, for good or harm to our souls and our lives.
Every great civilization has followed the same pattern: in its early stages, strict sexual morality is a force for good by fostering strong, stable marriages and families that channel creative energy constructively. But prosperity invariably brings greater self-indulgence and the gratification of sensual desires, whose forces undermine the strong foundations of the home, and consequently, society at large. That pattern fits our own context, as well: the more sex-obsessed we become, the sicker our culture. The signs are everywhere: from sexual abuse to pornography addiction, to the way we’ve come to treat sex as a commodity. We used to speak of “making love” as a sacred expression of emotional intimacy and commitment, but now we refer to “having sex,” reducing it to merely a selfish physical act. And the precipitous decline of the home and family in the past fifty years or so is the result of our hyper-sexualization.
The core problem with lust is that the more we gratify our sensual thoughts and feelings, the stronger they become. Like any addiction, lust feeds on itself. And today’s headlines are full of examples of lives ruined by unchecked lust. Satan exploits every opportunity to wreak misery and destroy lives, and sexual sins are among his most effective weapons. Just ask any Sex Offender whose life has been forever stained and ruined by the “Scarlet Letter” of our times.
But let’s turn our attention away from the sin of lust to its polar opposite, the Christian virtue of purity. Or, to frame it a little differently, the quality of innocence. We still see the beautiful trait of innocence in young children, and how it reminds us of our divinely intended moral potential. Jesus has called us to “become like little children,” and I believe the quality of innocence is among the virtues he wants us to rediscover.
As “children of light” through our salvation in Jesus Christ, God is calling us to a new experience of innocence. “You were once darkness,” as Paul writes here, “but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light… in all goodness, righteousness and truth.” It’s an innocence grounded in our faithful discipleship as we’re transformed by the Spirit. But it requires our commitment to goodness, righteousness and truth, and turning from the darkness of our old nature and the world’s fallen ways.
Relating this specifically to lust, it means:
Guarding our innocence fiercely, avoiding any new temptations that will only become stumbling blocks in the future. We can’t afford to play with fire, and that’s what lust is. Avoid exposure to fresh temptations. Discipline your desires. Get off the internet. Change the channel. Do whatever it takes to protect your soul. Recognize the work of Satan for what it is. Remember that “sin is crouching at your door, and its desire is to have you; but you must master it” (Gen. 4:7).
Paul wrote Timothy to “treat older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity” (1 Tim. 5:2). “With absolute purity” is the key phrase. As Paul states here, “among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity… because these are improper for God’s holy people” (v.3). Not even a hint of sexual immorality. To use a modern phrase, our policy toward lust should be one of zero tolerance.
But beware the “weak moments” when they come. Countless lives have been ruined by yielding to temptation in those times when “the flesh is weak,” when we’re tired or discouraged or feeling spiritually distant. We all have those vulnerable moments, and that’s when we need to ask God to help us to find his strength in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9-10).
“You can’t keep a bird from landing on your head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair,” as someone has said. Temptations will inevitably come, but what matters is how we deal with them. Don’t allow them to linger. “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
C.S. Lewis has written, “I sometimes wonder if all pleasures are not substitutes for joy." We need to choose wisely between life’s momentary, deceitful pleasures, and God’s deep and lasting joy.
Light will always overcome darkness. That’s true not only physically, but spiritually, as well. May God help us to see the darkness of lust for the deadly sin it is, and to reclaim our innocence as the children of light, in all goodness, righteousness and truth.
This will be a lifelong journey, but one well worth making. It’s a crucially important part of our discipleship and faithful witness in a world of lost innocence.
Amen.
