If Only

15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! 16Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” 17But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body gand in your spirit, which are God’s.
1 Corinthians 6: 15 - 20 NKJV

I read something interesting the other day.  According to sources, the pornography industry in the United States has a estimated annual income of 10 to 14 BILLION dollars.  The old saying "Sex sells" is certainly true in this case.  We see it everywhere, from magazines to movies and now to easy access internet donwloads.  It is not only the unchurched heathens who are stuck on the immoral treadmill.  A recent study by the Barna Group found that 77% of christian men between the ages of 18 and 30 admitted to viewing pornography at least monthly.  In the very same survey, 32% of men in the country admitted that they were addicted to viewing pornography.  As someone who has had his own struggles with pornography, I pretty much know form where I come from on this issue.  The statistics of christians who view porn may come as a shock to some, but not to me.  See, I was a christian and active in my local church as I was engaging in this activity in my spare time.  Now, go ahead and condemn me if you'd like, but I know damn well that I have plenty of company around me.  For pornography is not simply a past time we simply engage in when we become bored.  No, it is well recognised as a national epidemic in christian circles.  I recall the condemnation of many when it was learned that pastor Jimmy Swaggart was defrocked by the assemblies of God in the 1980's for his various forays with prostitutes.  Swaggart did, in fact, step down for awhile, but not before admitting to his congregation "I have sinned against you!"  Yeah, no kidding.

6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be adone away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7For he who has died has been bfreed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
Romans 6: 6 - 12 NKJV

I've also found yet another interesting statistic which shouldn't be all too surprising to anyone.  It seems that 61% of happily married men are less likely to view pornography, while 45% of couples with teenage children at home are also less likely to engage in it.  Why is that?  Well, my own theory is that happily married couples have no room in their lives for this sort of thing.  For their time is consumed with the everyday lives of their mates.  Is this a cure for our porn addictions?  Probably not, but it's definately a good start.  I did a little soul searching while I was in the midst of my own porn addiction, and I found that I was more likely to engage in viewing pornography when I was feeling alone.  BINGO!  For what is pornography but an escape from one life circumstance or another.  We can justify it all we want with thoughts of "I deserve this" and "I can quit anytime," but time and again we return to where we mistakingly think the grass is greener.  Well, my question is, if losing ourselves in porn is so damn thereputic, why are we continually plagued by those feelings of guilt and shame after we've done the deed?  I'll take a shot in the dark and say that, despite what mainstream culture tells us, this behavior IS NOT what our heavenly Father wants for His children.  I also have come across a thought in my contemplation of this destructive issue which plagued me.  With annnual receipts northwards of 14 billion dollars, the porn industry stands to lose alot should we, as christians, come to the realization of who we really are in Christ Jesus.

20“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galations 2:20 NKJV

So, who are we as christian men?  No, who are we as believers in Christ?  We are new creations in Jesus whose sins have been washed away and now have NO condemnation in Christ Jesus!  It is Christ who we now live as each and every day.  Not only that, but everything that we see, hear and sense we do  AS CHRIST who is within us.  Would you ever imagine Jesus watching pornography?  Well, when we as christians view porn, just whose eyes are we sharing?  That's right, JESUS.  I mention this less as condemning people but more as a wake up call to just who we are one with today.  I often wonder just how much of a financial hit the porn industry would take if christians came to the realization of their lives in Jesus and were no longer in bondage to pornography.  Yeah, if only.

~Scott~