Porn – The Viper in the Grass Word on the Week 12th November 2022.
When I was young, admittedly that was some time ago, porn was the stuff you found on public lavatory walls. It was the domain of naughty school kids or dirty minded adults who were to be avoided.
It was when porn went digital that a whole new world presented itself. It could be tapped into and mischievously posted on the main digital platforms with or without any annotation.
Like the Sirens myth in Homer’s Odyssey these explicit pictures of women are used to lure men. In the Odyssey, Odysseus’ boat passes the island of the Sirens and he too is captivated by their song. However, he takes preventative action. He has all of his men plug their ears with ear wax and ties himself to the ship’s mast. By such means he succeeds in hearing the Siren song and surviving.
Modern voyageurs are not so fortunate. Addiction to porn is not easily broken. It is like the viper, which is a beautiful snake with very distinctive markings but has a bite which is possibly lethal. The word serpent was commonly used in the Authorised Version of the Bible for the devil (Genesis Chapter 3 verses 1 to 15 and Revelation Chapter 12 verse 9).
Part of the problem of writing on this topic as a Christian is the inability to do the research which would normally arise in preparing the blog! The Lord does not equip His servants with immunity to sexual attraction! Neither does he ‘lead us into temptation’ (St Luke Chapter 11 verse 4)! That is the devil’s job and he is very active at it (2 Corinthians Chapter 2 verse 11).
We can read the press however and there seems to be a predilection for what has come to be known as ‘rough sex’. Surely we have reached the bottom of the pit with the death of the person in acting out this ultimate porn. The serpent can be lethal!
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honourable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life (1 Thessalonians Chapter 4 verses 3 to 7).
The Apostle Paul wrote these words under inspiration and attested to the fact by adding the sentence: – ‘anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit’.