Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body. -1 Corinthians 6:18-20
I am republishing this article at the request of some who feel like it is important to address these issues again. I have updated it somewhat from when I first published it.
I remember as a high school student going to a weekly Bible study that had a profound impact on me. I went because I was being taught, plain and simple. No one told me to go, in fact, my parents probably would have preferred that I not go since it was not a Roman Catholic study. (The group was an inter-faith group led by one of my new teachers in the local school.) The study was a bit of a mixed bag. I met some strong Christians there who poured into my life and my walk with Christ, and I met a few very strange people. I also made some friends. One of them was a young man who, although I didn't see it immediately then, was struggling with his sexuality. He was hot and cold in his faith, which I had a hard time understanding. I was a bit naive at the time and figured if God was really who he declared himself to be, I would follow him no matter what, even if that meant being a bit different than most of my contemporaries. Life has not always remained that simple for me, but I'm thankful for the confidence God gave me then. My friend was not so fortunate. He was confused and under almost constant temptation. He grew up in a tough home, and I suspect was introduced to pornography and sexual influences early in his life from the conversations we shared. I think he really wanted to believe that knowing Christ was worth the struggle. We had many conversations that led me to believe that he was pursuing Christ despite his failures, but in the end, he simply gave in. By my senior year in high school he had walked away from both the Bible study and our friendship. The last I heard of him (many years ago) he was living the life of a homosexual prostitute in Chicago. I cannot imagine there is much joy in that life.
In one sense sin is sin. It is always deadly, and it always offers a gift in one hand that it is ready to snatch away with the other. A life given over to sin is a life of illusions. Sexual sin, however, is "a horse of a different color," if I can borrow a phrase from my mother (and the Wizard of Oz). It's different, and it affects us like no other sin. The apostle Paul tells us that it is a sin against our own body. Sexual sin can and does hurt others, but, unlike many other sins, it always hurts us in return. It eats away at us like no other sin. It causes guilt like no other sin and, when we blunt that guilt long enough so that it does not haunt us anymore, we can be sure that we have turned into the kind of human animal that can and will do the most heinous things to other people—even children. Sex crimes tend to be the most inhumane, humiliating, cruel, and brutal crimes known to humankind (both homosexual and heterosexual). I saw the results of a few of them as both a graduate student in psychology during clinicals and as a police officer, and the mental pictures are hard to forget.
Sexual sin is not inevitable, and it can be resisted. There is no sin too big for God to overshadow in our lives. One of the great strengths of sexual sin is anonymity and secrecy. If we truly want to be free from slavery to sexual sin, the first step out of the dark is to expose it to the light of day. Confession breaks the power of sin and accountability keeps it at bay. If you know Christ, the Holy Spirit abides in you, and he has the ability and the desire to destroy strongholds in your life. One of the means by which he does that is to give us brothers and sisters in Christ that we can trust, who will come alongside us and prayerfully hold us accountable and encourage us.
I do not know any true followers of Christ who relish their addictions or their immorality. God has "saved us and called us to a holy life" (2 Timothy 1:9), which means we know him by his grace, but we also strive to be like him because of his grace. Grace is a working grace, not a stagnant grace (see Titus 2:11-14). Breaking the bonds of idolatry and sexual sin is hard work, but it is well worth the effort. If you are a follower of Christ, you are no longer a slave to sin. God has given you a way out.
Next week I'll talk about some practical steps in that direction.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym