Introduction
Do
we live in a pornified world? Yes, there is an increasingly ugly culture of
sexualization. More young people are drowning in all kinds of sexual
inappropriateness? Sex is now
omnipresent in popular culture- on TV, in movies, billboard advertisements,
mobile phones and the Internet. You
don’t have to be a night clubber or an addict of Channel O or MTV Base to recognize
the near-nudity images and sleazy values that celebrities like Lady Gaga,
Rihanna, Kim Kardashian , Iyanya, D’Banj and the likes portray as the ‘cool’
thing. Youth and more broadly society, are being warped by images of naked
flesh or by slutty song lyrics. Now don’t get pretentious, Church youths are
going with the flow! This is sad.
Taking a cue
from the Thessalonians
We must take a
cue from the Christians in Thessalonians who also lived in a pornified culture.
They lived in a society where sexual immorality was commonplace and acceptable
lifestyle. Popular culture permitted all kind of sexual experimentations, just
like it is in our modern world. However, Paul reminded them that their
lifestyle should rather please God and not be a reflection what was the in
thing (1 Thess. 4:1-3). The ‘in
thing’ is not necessarily the cool thing. Absolute abstinence from sexual
immorality is God's will. The use of the word ‘sanctification’ in the
text is very significant in view of the fact that the Thessalonian Christians
lived in a society that was highly sexualised and permissive. They were to live
by the demands of their calling in spite of popular culture (1Thess. 4:7). Believers are never to
lower God's holy standards to accommodate society’s values and trends. In the light of today's popular culture that
glosses over abortion, protected sex, adult programming, co-habiting, dating,
same sex union and so forth—the stance and resolve of Christians should be
consistent with the standard of God’s word.
The New
Testament term for sexual immorality (Gk. porneia) describes a wide variety of
sexual activities, before or outside marriage.
It is not limited to consummated sexual acts. It includes the
inclination towards indulging in or arousing sinful lust (pornography,
masturbation, voyeurism, smooching, sexting and so forth) and thus it is a
violation of God’s standard and a participation in biblically unjustifiable
conduct. Every sexual gratification outside the confines of marriage is a
violation of God's standard of sexual purity. Involvement in any form of sexual
impurity or perversion with another is also a violation of the other person.
God expect us to behave with honor and purity in all our relationships.
Exploiting or taking advantage of someone means to deprive another of the moral
purity God desires for that person, in order to satisfy and gratify one's own self-centered
and sensual desires. To arouse in another sexual desires that cannot be
righteously fulfilled is to exploit or take advantage of that person. Sexual
immorality is also a violation of one’s self. Read 1Cor. 3:16-19 and
meditate. Contrary to the thinking and feeling that unrighteous sex
gratifies, it actually injures the sanctity of the heart and diminishes divine
iconicity. Divine iconicity refers to our semblance and representativeness of
the nature and character of God. We are supposed to be God’s image bearers in
love, purity and in power, however this divine ‘imageness’ is defiled and
diminished by the tainting of sexual impurities – implicit or explicit.
Some
Psycho-sociological implications
According to a
report by the American Psychological Association, “Our sexual obsession damages
boys as well as girls”. Obviously this is no news to Christians. The report
affirmed that the saturation of sexualized images of females leads to body
hatred, eating disorders, low self-esteem, depression, high rates of teen
pregnancy and unhealthy sexual development in girl children. It also leads to
impaired cognitive performance. In short, when we tell girls that looking “hot”
is the only way to be validated, rather than encouraging them to be active
players in life, they underperform at everything else. But the consequences of
sexualizing girls are far more devastating than this. Rape is at crisis levels,
and one in three women will be a victim of stalking, sexual harassment or
sexual violence in their lifetime.
Young men on the
other hand, have dysfunctionally grown up to see and understand women as
existing for their pleasure. The
sexualization of girls is not just shattering the lives of girls and women, it
is preventing boys from forming healthy friendships and working relationships
with girls and women. Instead, it is nurturing potentially violent abusers and
psychotic individuals. Ultimately, it means boys are not free to be themselves,
to know their own humanity. Pornography prevents boys from forming normal and
healthy relationships with girls. Implicit in pornography is the understanding
that women exist to be exploited and exist primarily for the pleasure of men.
They do not need to be embraced as friends or wooed or admired. Rather, they
are to be conquered, used and dumped. Boys that immerse themselves in
pornography are not able to fulfill their God-given roles as leaders and protectors.
They have become instead, exploiters and monsters.
Consequences for
unheeded counsel
Sin is sweet and
it has a way of making you want to take the truth for granted. This is a
dangerous path to thread. Every time you take the truth of God’s word for
granted you stand the risk of judgment. (1 Thess. 4: 6-8; Heb. 13:4) Those who disregard the bible’s
instruction on sanctification and purity have chosen to displease God and
therefore are liable to face the music of God’s judgment. Like we discussed earlier,
sexual sin defiles and diminishes our divine iconicity. That is a kind of
judgment. When your divine iconicity begins to diminish, you are exposed to the
enemy’s attack- you are likely to suffer dire consequences – physically,
emotionally and spiritually. When you break the hedge, the serpent is sure to
bite. Principally, the judgment (wrath) of God will come on all those who
reject the truth of the Bible when Christ returns. The rapture will be the
decider of those who will eventually be saved or severed. To escape the wrath
of God, we must be obedient to Biblical instructions and uphold God’s standards
in our lifestyles.
The brotherly
love effect
Paul admonished
the Thessalonians to deepen their brotherly love for one another (1 Thess.
4:9). Philadelphia, the Greek word for brotherly love that denotes the
mutual love of children of the same father is a Biblical concept that pervades
the whole Bible New and Old. The concept means to treat others as if they were
part of one's family. It expresses the idea of Christian fellowship and
fraternity. Brotherly love is commanded as a universal principle in Lev.19:18.
Brotherly love is affectionate, it teaches neighborliness (Mark 12:31); wants
the best for the other person. The early apostolic community exemplified this
kind of love—read Acts 2:42-47. The whole idea of the brotherly love effect is
that you hardly want to hurt your siblings. You wouldn’t want to take your
brother or sister for granted or violate them. You want the best for members of
your family. There is this filial bond among children of the same parents that
seeks the best of one another. This is the kind of bond and even much deeper
that should exist among God’s children. Where there is brotherly love, there
cannot be impurity.
Conclusion
The grim reality
of the ‘pornification’ of the world we live in cannot be denied. The
Thessalonians were in the same shoes we are in today. But they were not swayed
by the pressure of their time. They were people of deep conviction. Christians
today are meant to be people of conviction and not convenience. We have been
given all that pertains to life and godliness. We are of God, and we have the
Greater one inside of us, and above all we were created and exist for God’s
pleasure (Rev. 4:11). We are wired to please God!
