it to male egotism and lust for power. It can be these, especially for the child molesters (priests, pedophiles) and the philandering exploiters (politicians, athletes and others famous for something), whose sexual opportunities are commonplace, and hard to resist, apparently.
Even a man of God, such as David in the Bible, can covet another man’s wife so powerfully it can lead him to commit an outrageous sin. David saw Uriah’s beautiful wife, Bathsheba, bathing on her roof and was driven to plan nothing short of murder, in order to sleep with her. He arranged for Uriah to be put in harm’s way, where he was killed. Such is the power of a woman’s visual beauty over a man’s desire. What to do?
”And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out, and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into the fiery hell.”
(Matt. 18:8-9)
You can see the spiritual logic and absolute truth of the Lord’s counsel in the Gospel according to Matthew, but it is truly extreme in the literal sense. Who would deliberately blind himself to remove visible temptation from sight? Out of sight, once seen, it could still remain in your carnal mind and haunt your blindness like a curse.
No wonder another culture hides its women in shroud-like clothing, to avoid stimulating man’s lustful nature. In this way, they hope to avoid subjecting many helpless men to the provocative allure of women. The eyes of men cannot be satisfied?
These days, we have virtual temptation — sexual images accessible on the Internet. Mere generations ago, our grandfathers’ culture didn’t subject them to this flood of temptation. They had only fantasy and men’s magazines to fascinate their lust. Then came sex in porn films and videos, and finally the Web arrived, bringing universal sin within easy grasp, offering a world-wide reach of unlimited temptation, just a click away, putting us in league with that electronic beast of ubiquitous iniquity. We are virtually swamped by visual temptation. How much more difficult is the problem going to become for the boys now growing up in this beastly electronic environment?
What can you do? Pluck out your eyes? Don’t you need your sight to do so much more than avoid stumbling because of temptation? You need to see to do your work, of course, or even to read the Word of God, and to view the beauty of God’s creation, as well as the visible loveliness of your own family. But there’s an easy way to pluck out the world of virtual temptation: just unplug the damned thing!
”You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, that everyone who looks on woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
(Matt 5:27-8)
Man’s Carnal Mind
Let me take you back to the time before I met my lovely wife. Back in the day, before accepting Christ as Lord, my wretched life was hardly the stuff of an evangelical role model. I left behind two marriages, both of which I wrecked with my infidelity, a hazard of my busy career in the corporate world, where sex is seen as stress relief.
I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a keen interest in the stock market and investing. After a stint in the military, I got into the world of business and enjoyed some success as a stockbroker. I was your typical guy who lives to satisfy his needs and get as much pleasure as he can. A man like that thinks he is entitled to whatever comes his way. I thought that was what life was about: following my lust and gratifying my desires. That way is wide and many practice that lifestyle.
Desire for pleasure is deeper in men than almost any other motivation. It’s hardwired into the very way we think — our carnal mind. When we see something attractive, we want it. And if there’s a way to have it, we’ll do almost anything to get it. And then it’s on to the next attraction along that dead-end road.
I traveled that way, married and divorced a couple of times, as I said. I was largely responsible for the damage and failure of those relationships, in what passes for a normal man’s life in these corrupt times, when so many of us have an eye for the eyes of others.
You see, as men, we’re just not prepared for the real demands of marriage. We have some ideas about how we think things ought to go: our marriage should stabilize things for us, give us what we need, whenever we need it — that kind of thing. We’re not prepared for the daily struggle that marriage too often delivers. I mean the tit-for-tat conflict with the other who has vowed to have and to hold us, forsaking all others. That vow is too much for many of us. When things aren’t working out, we want out. We think freedom is doing whatever we want to do.
So I had been in and out of a couple of marriages, without producing any kids, fortunately. Then a friend brought me to his church and I began to see that there was a better way than the one I knew.
I needed to find the Truth, because I knew I was living the Lie, which seemed to promise so much but mostly made me miserable. I hated myself for my immorality and for being such a screw-up, like so many others. I had to figure out who I wanted to be, instead of this troubled man that I was. I’d been indulging in whatever was offered, getting my fill of what the world was all about, or seemed to be. I was ignorant of anything beyond my selfish ways.
I was sick of myself and the way I was living, or more directly, dying. Thankfully, a friend brought me to his church, where I was convicted in my sin. I had to choose between continuing my life of ignorance and giving it up to follow the Way of Life offered in Jesus Christ. The choice was mine, and I became a devoted student of the Word. I was baptized, and new true life began within me.
By this time, I was already about 40 years old. My work in corporate America then brought me to the Chicago area. Here, I was led to join a fellowship.
Let me tell you about the Brothers in this fellowship. I always felt I had a good relationship with these men, knowing we could talk about anything, at anytime. In those days, most of us were single and could help each other remain strong and pure.
Summertime in the city is a tuff time for any man of God. Why? Because so many pretty women take summer as a license to wear less clothing, making them seem more available and desirable to men. As their clothing becomes more revealing, a hot-blooded man’s discipline is tested more severely.
As a fellowship of Brothers, we had special gatherings to prepare our hearts and minds for the struggles of the season. We discussed the challenges we had faced before and the difficulties we would face, as summer undressed the city’s women. We were committed to help each other if we were in danger of succumbing to sin.
What a powerful time that was for us, as we praised God, prayed and opened up with real honesty about our struggles! Although our senses were under attack from temptation, we were a group of dedicated men on a mission to show the world around us that we would not be defeated by those almost irresistible influences. I saw men sharing their struggles and victories. It really was a battle for us, because Christian men are subjected to the very same desires and temptations as other men in this world.
I was able to build relationships with a few Brothers whose struggles and battles were similar to mine. Over the summer, we hung out and played basketball, went to movies, or just enjoyed the camaraderie of the fellowship, eating wings together at the local Wingstop restaurant. Our conversations were engaging and sometimes turned heated, but we always ended
