Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Enter (02/27/06)
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TITLE: MUST BE 18 TO ENTER | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jeff Ford
03/04/06 -
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I would hypothesize that the offer to enter provides, at the minimum, mild disgust for many women, yet I would also surmise most men have opened the door at least once. Most Christians proclaim the power of Christ to free men from bondage to sin, but most churches reserve the “sexual temptation” sermon for behind closed-door sessions. Why, then, do so many pastors consider the topic taboo and ignore the harsh reality of this “sin against [man’s] own body?” As a product of the doctrine-lacking Assemblies of God, I grew up perplexed and befuddled on how to deal with lustful desire, in part because no one in my life was courageous enough to brave the topic with me.
Dens of iniquity pervade our society like cancer blankets a dying patient’s body. Rooms of pleasure seem to beckon the weak on every city street corner of America. Drive around the city and suburbs of Tampa, Florida, my current residence, and topless promises lure unguarded hearts and minds in droves, giving this town the dubious distinction as the "Strip Club Capital of the World." So unaware of this engagement as sin that many “family oriented” husbands and fathers consider the casual attendance at a nude bar an entirely acceptable behavior. Which helps us understand why so many Christian men fall prey to online pornography. We are around men at work 40 hours a week who, by their actions and talk, endorse sexual promiscuity without regard. As long as they don’t cheat on their wives, they haven’t crossed any lines. The Christian man knows this is sin, but justifies his secret obsession by saying, “At least I’m not as bad as them.” Even worse, he can’t tell anybody about his struggles, because he’s been taught by the church that “sex is bad” and to “just control yourself.” All the while, the urge to enter is more and more alluring.
The Pharisee reading this now mocks, “But what about accountability groups?”
Dr. Phil would tell us, “Just get real here…you’re not a bad person, you just need help.”
There are even Christian counselors who would say, “I have some methods that I think can help.”
When will the church, and we as individual Christ-followers, subject ourselves to the all-powerful, all-encompassing, saving grace of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, of whom we are not ashamed? When will we acknowledge that the depth of our sin is so great that accountability groups invariably fail because we are even ashamed to offer our innermost transgressions to fellow believers for fear of judgment? When will we dismantle the myth that humans have even an ounce of goodness in them, and allow the reality of our depravity to point us towards our need for God? When will we realize that secular methodology may bandage a problem successfully but will never permit us the privilege of total release and dependence upon our Lord?
Our digital age allows us entrance to a world of anonymity and seclusion; there is no better place for Satan to work than behind closed doors. For too long we have been afraid of entering the door marked GRACE. We’ve been tricked into thinking that a little five letter word does not contain the power to release us from the sin that so easily entangles.
“Grace is good, but we need accountability groups too.”
“Sure, we all need grace, but you also just need to believe in yourself.”
“Grace is a wonderful concept, but studies show proven methods that can help you.”
We are willing to entertain countless human strategies, and we enter into various arenas for the sake of seeming and looking Christian. But when all of these fail, will we finally decide to enter His presence as the writer of Hebrews suggests? "And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus" (Chapter 10, verses 18-19, NIV)…
We have but one way to release sexual sin - enter the Most Holy Place, where His death and resurrection is all that is needed.
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