Purity Principle: Ch. 7 – Getting Radical

Men, how far would you go to keep your wife from ingesting poison that would kill her? My guess is that we would do just about anything, even if it was inconvenient, to protect her. Nothing would get in my way! Alcorn’s question in chapter 7 is similar.  How far would we go to prevent sexual immorality from having any place in our lives? We’ve already seen how damaging it is. We’ve seen that it destroys lives around us. But are we serious about dealing with it? His title, “Getting Radical” refers to taking the sin of immorality so seriously that we are willing to take radical steps to prevent it from ever happening.

He begins with an important reminder of how the media not only desensitizes us to evil, but normalizes evil in our worldview. We watch things on TV and in the movies that we would be ashamed to be observing through our neighbor’s window. Somehow it becomes OK and we become entertained by it. In reality, we are feeding our lust. Albert Mohler posted this week, “The true test of our worldview is what we find entertaining.” When we are entertained by sexual content, or even suggestive content, we are opening the door to the rationalization of sin. Alcorn said, “Why are we surprised when our son gets a girl pregnant if we’ve allowed him to watch hundreds of immoral acts and hear thousands of sexual innuendos?” Think about the standard God sets in Eph 5:3-4.

Eph 5:3-4  3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

I echo this chapter by asking, how do your favorite shows or the last 3 movies you’ve seen stack up to this standard?

I can hear the objection. I’ve thought the same objection. How then will I live in this world. I might have to be “radical” and give a bunch of things up. Alcorn takes us to the words of Christ to see just how radical Jesus challenges us to be.

Matt 5:27-30 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

The message . . . Do WHATEVER it takes to deal with sexual temptation. Get radical about it! Alcorn says, “The battle is too intense, and the stakes are too high to approach purity casually or gradually.” So what might that mean? It might mean cutting out many movies that we would normally watch, or unplugging the TV if we have to. He talks about having his wife cut pictures out of magazines before he looks to not even have the opportunity to lust. “STOP LOOKING. And then STOP PUTTING YOURSELF IN THE POSITION TO LOOK!” I remember my friends in High School and I having a pact to help each other keep our eyes from looking. Whenever anything inappropriate was a temptation, one of us would say, “Hey, look at those awesome light fixtures on the ceiling.” We were all held accountable to look up and not where our flesh wanted to look. Let’s commit to be radical about cutting out even temptations to lust.

Rom 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. 

I know many men struggle with the same temptations over and over and wonder if there will ever be victory. Alcorn says, “Remember, if you want a different outcome, you must make different choices.” AMEN! So what will you do differently to radically protect yourself? How will we keep from rationalizing junk we ingest? How will we guard our hearts . . . and our eyes? How will we control temptation from the internet? Personally, I follow his suggestion to have my computers in public places in the home where anyone can see what I am doing. How will you take control of the TV? Even the commercials! One of his final suggestions is to spend an hour reading the Bible, a Christian book, or in ministry for each hour you watch TV. What a great idea to make sure we are ingesting truth!

So how far will you go to stand for purity? Men, let’s not wimp out on this one. Get some other men to hold you accountable, or your wife. Hey, look at those light fixtures!