Lust

 

Recognize the guy in this picture? Yeah, it's Gregory Peck. He was a really good actor. Here's a little test for all you movie buffs out there. Do you know what movie this picture is from? There are clues. What can you tell about the character Mr. Peck is playing. It looks like this guy is from Biblical times. Check the shirt. That emblem is the Star of David, isn't it? And he's staring at something. And I mean he is REALLY staring at something! And it looks like he likin' what he sees. He's got that little Gregory Peck smile. :) And look at his eyes. He's looking down on something, or someone. And it looks like he's up high, like on a roof. Hmm.


2 Samuel 11:2-4 - "It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her."

Lust.

The apostle Paul wrote of doing things he didn't want to do in the book of Romans (7:15) - "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate."

I know exactly how Paul felt this past weekend . . . during the Superbowl.

I already knew that the Superbowl was going to be full of "worldly" commercials - lots of sexually explicit content. I was prepared for that. And after the game started, it wasn't long before the first disgusting commercial came on. GoDaddy.com. It featured race car driver Danika Patrick describing the mix of technology and glamor at GoDaddy's web site. The rest of the commercial was a close-up shot of a supermodel french-kissing some chubby, nerdy, techno-geek. Yeah. That'll make me wanna use their web hosting site!

Calvin Klein was next. They purchased some Superbowl ad space, trying to get you to buy some men's underwear. Their commercials are always racy, often stretching the envelope of decency. Their Superbowl spot was no exception. It featured a well-sculpted young man, wearing only his tighty-whities, gyrating around trying to show off every part of himself. He did that, and that was enough for me.

I put on my headphones and grabbed my Bible and began to read, shielding my eyes from the television. I really needed that break - to get away from the "world" and immerse myself in His Word. After my reading, still listening to worship music on my Ipod, I decided to check out Facebook. And that, my friends, was the beginning of my downfall.

As I scrolled down through all of my friend's posts, I noticed that most were about the Superbowl. "So-and-so just scored," "Jim Harbaugh sure is a whiner." Stuff like that. Then I came across a post from a lady friend at work. She and her friends seemed rather interested in that Calvin Klein commercial they had just seen, one of them saying, "I wish I could see that commercial again!"

Now, I'm a pretty helpful guy. But sometimes it is possible to be TOO helpful. And, as I discovered on Sunday, sometimes my desire to be helpful can even outweigh my desire to please God.

How easy it was for me to go to YouTube and type in "Calvin Klein Superbowl" in the search window. How quick it was for me to copy the link and paste it on my friend's wall. It was only after doing those two things that I thought about God. I obviously have not totally "died to self" yet. There is more "world" in me than I realized. And that saddens me.

Just one day earlier I had sat in a seminar at a Christian men's conference. The topic was about creating strong leaders in young men. The speaker told a story of going rafting in a spring-swollen river in northern Wisconsin and how easy it was to swept away under it's incredible power. That's exactly how I felt after posting that link on my friend's wall. Swept away by a power stronger than I am.

One of God's commandments is to not commit adultery. The husband/wife relationship is very precious to God. It runs throughout the Bible. Jesus even used the bride groom and bride analogy when he talked about himself and his relationship to the church.

In Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus tells us that to even lust after another woman or man is committing adultery in our hearts. Do you see what I did by posting that link to the Calvin Klein Superbowl spot on my friend's Facebook page? I helped her commit adultery.

Some might say, "Bob, you're being way to hard on yourself. It was just a stupid video. What's the big deal!?"

Well, it IS a big deal. I have sinned against a holy and righteous God. The next morning I went to my friend's Facebook page and deleted the link I had posted. In it's place I left a message saying it was wrong of me to post that video and I reqested an opportunity to talk with her about why. A few days later, we spoke about it. I explained why I had removed the link and she understood.

This country of ours has ignored and turned its back on God. As a nation, we keep putting more and more distance between ourselves and the loving God who gave us life. Personally, from this moment on, I am going to make a conscious effort to rectify that situation. I am turning off the television. I am spending more time in His Word. My goal is to reduce the gap between my self and God and to never, ever "feel distant from God again." Everthing I do, and I do mean everything, must bring glory to God or it is not worth doing at all. I serve a powerful, Holy God. He has saved me from a death I deserved to die. He requires obedience and I for one am going to increase my efforts and become "a good and faithful servant."

This country was established on Christian principals but we have drifted far away from the course they invisioned. It's time to change that course. We need to put our oars in the water and start rowing back upstream, against the current of apathy and disinterest, and return in repentance and obedience to our King.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." - Matthew 5:27-28