Yesterday two of the lead news stories were about pornography, specifically about child pornography. One of these disheartening stories was about a school teacher that had thousands and thousands of pornographic pictures stored on his computers. The other told of a father that, while in a drunken state, forced his two young daughters to watch porn on the internet.
Addiction to pornography may be as difficult to break way from as any other addiction. Substance abuse addiction will come with withdrawals once the addict decides to stop, withdrawals that cause the addict physical pain. For the porn addict there will be no pain, not for him anyway. The child-porn addict will only cause pain. One day he will cross the line and do the unthinkable, causing lifelong pain to a child, all because of a refusal to recognize that he is addicted to filth.
Is one addiction worse than another? Is one sin worse than another? Many addicts will infect the lives of the people they contact, infection through the pain they cause, through the anxieties they cause, and through the damage they cause. But the child abusing porn addict...is this beyond infection, do they bring a terminal illness to those they infect? Should we tolerate this behavior? The drunken father who forced his daughters to watch internet porn lives in Texas. In Texas, evidently it is legal for this father to do what he did, protected by laws that are thirty years old, written long before the porn-filled internet existed. Did our tolerance allow a school teacher to collect child pornography for years, undetected by anyone?
As I write these words I struggle with what should be done. My perspective as a father of six children clearly tells me that these addicts should be put to a swift and painful death. My struggle derives from my perspective as a Christian.
There is a wonderful story in the 7th chapter of Luke's gospel that tells of the anointing of Jesus by a most unlikely woman. Jesus had been invited to dinner at the home of a Pharisee. As Jesus reclined at the table this woman came with an alabaster jar of perfume and a desire for Christ. This woman stood behind Jesus at his feet, weeping. She then began to clean the feet of Christ with her tears, wiping them with her hair. Then the perfume was poured onto the feet of Christ. The Pharisee's words soon end the picture of this beautiful story when they say,
"If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him, and what kind of woman she is-that she is a sinner."Luke's story does now tell us what sins this woman committed, but we know from his writing and the words of the Pharisee that she had lived a sinful life. Jesus then tells a parable about repaying of debt, and forgiveness. Jesus' parable teaches us that those that have fallen the furthest, will rise the highest when they turn to Christ.
This woman who came to Jesus cried out of a desire to change her life. She turned away from a lifetime of sin and knelt before the Lord. Jesus said to her,
"Your faith has saved you; go in peace."If you are addicted to pornography and do not stop you will die...forever. You can know Christ Jesus today. You can seek His forgiveness today. You can know that when you lie your head down for the very last time you will be in the presence of Christ Jesus...forever. Kneel at His feet, have a desire for Christ instead of an addiction to filth.
As for myself, I will continue to struggle understanding how God can accept us just as we are. For me to accept that a person who treats children as sex objects can fall under the same grace and mercy as any other is difficult. I will pray for the families of the teacher and the father; I will pray that my own struggles never interfere with my own walk with Christ. I hope you will pray with me.
