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"Why is the
battle against sexual lust so difficult for some people,
perhaps most people? The answer is simple: lust works
every time. It delivers what we're looking for:
immediate relief from pain or discomfort."
~ James
Wilhoit
Lust
& Advil
The mainstreaming of sex
in our time, the public explosion of marital infidelity
and teen immorality, the pervasiveness of pornography, the patronage
of mens clubs, and workplace sexual harrassment might
get blamed on hormones. But pain?
Alan Medinger notes that most of the
time we sin sexually not just to give ourselves pleasure but in a doomed
attempt to protect ourselves from pain. If he's right, then the
solution to our moral freefall lies in healing, not
legislating.
We live with all kinds of
pain -- loneliness, insecurity, hunger,
fear, anger, and anxiety, to name just a few. Many people
resort to food, alcohol, or drugs
to dull or distract themselves. More snacks (in front
of mind-numbing television shows) or a mind-slowing cocktail can help
provide an escape from our boredom, depression, or
woundedness.
But sex offers an intense and intimate
alternative. Lust enlivens us ... even if only for a
moment.
Throughout our lives
we grapple with two fundamental desires. We
crave release from our pain, and
we long for authenic intimacy. When we seek to
ease our insecurities by pursuing illicit intimacy it merely patches
the pain for a moment. In that moment, our
lust transports us to a world of fantasy and quick relief. But when
that moment passes, we discover the hollow deception of
lust.
Most of us, in a culture that worships fast pain relief and instant
gratification, reject the way of the cross
(sustained, faith-filled endurance) and slip into superficial sex
-- watching, fantasizing, or participating. Succumbing to such lust
lures us from the Lord.
The crisis of our
culture is not raging hormones or sexual freedom, but a
depth of pain, rejection, isolation, and woundedness
that has made us profoundly more susceptible to the
superficiality of lust.
The gospel of Christ
offers us the healing we need and the intimacy to
fulfill us, now and for eternity. To the extent that
lust continues to hold us, our healing remains
incomplete.
May we yield to the Healer and the
Lover and find true abundance in Him.
In HOPE --
David |
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