THE SCENARIO: Poernno, a Christian spouse with two children, dabbles in pornography. It’s sort of an “on again off again” pornography in some ways, but irrespective whether the opportunity to do so is nearby and handy, or requires a bit more effort, they find a way to engage the material more or less on a regular basis. Poernno’s Christian mate has suspected Poernno’s penchant for quite some time and is heartbroken over this.
In the outworking of this scenario please consider the following:
1. Poernno’s twenty-first century world bombards them with the pornographic opportunities they seek at every turn—books, dance halls, internet, magazines, provocative/suggestive dress, radio, telephone, television, theater, etc. But pornography is as old as the human race, it’s just that its ubiquity and the means to attain to it are greater than ever before, and one suspects that these will get even greater as modernity unfolds, for the prince of this world will ensure that they do. Christian friend, would you agree that the debasing of the human body through pornographic exposition must delight Satan to no end? If you agree, why do you suppose he must greatly rejoice over this—please consider here, at least, Gen 1:26-27, 1Cr 6:15-20; please search out some other relevant verses in this regard.
2. Someone once said: ‘ What to one person is pornography, is to another creative art.’ Here is moral irrelevance and relativism at their best. They might as well have said: ‘What to one person is sin, is to another fanciful ingenuity.’ But Christianity is not fluid like that—conceptions of truth and moral values are absolute in Christianity because there it is understood that truths and moral values are God-given; it is understood that God and all that accrues to Him is of necessity absolute. Please discuss carefully how moral irrelevance and relativism lead to the trivialization of sin and thus the minimization of Jesus’ atoning death for sinners (Redemption). People like Poernno will embrace anything that takes the sting out of their sin. Please discuss how moral irrelevance and relativism repress the Holy Spirit’s convicting work in sinners like Poernno.
3. Please discuss how Pernno’s pornographic penchant stifles their witness—in this assume first that only their mate suspects their behavior, then assume that a few secular friends do, and next assume that they were found out somehow and a wider circle of people knew. What we are after here is to appreciate not only how what they are doing ices their witness per se as a consequence of discovered hypocrisy, but also how it necessarily ices their witness owing to their sense of guilt. Please consider other witnessing angles here that we have overlooked.
4. We know that Poernno’s mate is a responsible, loving one; they are not to blame for Poernno’s penchant (Pro 31:10, 1Cr 7:4). In the privacy of your heart, reflect on this, and try to imagine the weight of pain and undoubted frustration that Poernno’s mate must feel knowing what is ever running through Poernno’s mind. Does Jesus feel a similar kind of pain because of Poernno’s penchant—in what ways do you suppose Jesus is grieved over this?
5. As an extension of point four just above—when Poernno services their penchant, are they committing adultery (consider Mat 5:27-28)? Are sins of the mind simply the staging area for sin (precursors) or are they sin proper? When Poernno services their pornographic penchant, it is more than a sin of the mind, they are actually acting out what for them continually festers in their mind. Please discuss Scripturally the intricacies involved here.
6. Please discuss any three of the following verses with an eye to how they might practically help Poernno overcome their pornographic penchant to the glory of God and for their personal good: Rom 6:11-14, 1Cr 10:13, Gal 5:16-17, Eph 2:3-6, Tts 2:11-12, Tts 3:3-5, 1Jo 2:16-17, 1Pe 2:11, 2Pe 2:4-9.
7. Dear Christian friend, as we wrote this scenario we could not help but think of Jesus’ crucifixion. It is near sure that Jesus was crucified naked, or very nearly naked. If you are struggling with pornographic tendencies like Poernno, please remember that the shame that Jesus bore nailed to a cross like that was the shame that accrues to you owing to the pornographic nakedness you enjoy looking at. It is our prayer Christian brother or sister that you think of your Savior dying in agony for you naked like that the next time your pornographic penchant deceives you into thinking that you must service that penchant, for that picture of Him might just give you pause to call on Him for immediate help. As the subtitle verse 1Cr 10:13 indicates, God will provide a way out for you if you so desire—the ball is in your court though so to speak, you have to want a way out. We are sure that the now exalted Christ will give you the victory if you turn your eyes upon Him; after all, since you are a Christian, He has a jealous claim upon you, and has clothed you with His holiness, to cover the shame of your nakedness (=sin). We shall be praying for all our Poernno-like Christian brethren to the end that the Holy Spirit of God may sensitize you to your penchant so as to give you ultimate victory.