MORE THAN WORDS

“A spider’s web is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey.”

The Internet (aka “The Web”) can catch prey also.

Former member of the United States House of Representatives Horace Mann wrote, “The most formidable attribute of temptation is its increasing power, its accelerating ratio of velocity. Every act of repetition increases power, diminishes resistance. It is like the letting out of waters – where a drop can go, a river can go. Whoever yields to temptation, subjects himself to the law of falling bodies.”

The apostle Paul wrote, “It is God’s will that you should … avoid sexual immorality.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3) Avoiding web porn lessens the likelihood of having to resist it.

The following guidelines are geared more toward computers than smartphones.

• Disconnect from the Internet! Also known as a “modemectomy,” this option is often met with incredulity – “That’s preposterous!”

Is it? Jesus spoke a drastic remedy for avoiding temptation – using hyperbole.

“Let’s not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here’s what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump.”  (Matthew 5:29-30 The Message)

I’m aware that this first guideline may be impossible; so, read on.

• Ask a friend for accountability! Confide your struggle with a prayer partner. Even as I offer this guideline, I am reminded of a comment by pastor and author Erwin McManus, “No amount of accountability will keep you from becoming the person you don’t want to be.” You may need to read that a few times.

• Use a filtering system or a clean Internet provider; such will provide a filter for ALL computers and smartphones in the home.

• Move the computer to a high-traffic area; of course, this assumes there’s only one computer in the home which is unlikely. Viewing porn is less likely when the computer sits in the family room. Limit its use to times when mom or dad are nearby.

• Get what you need and get off the web! Browsing can be a mistake! When a person heads to the store with a shopping list, they will more likely get what’s on the list and little, if anything, more.  But when heading to the store to browse, there is a tendency or temptation to buy unneeded items. Take the same amount you might browse the web and read Scripture or a Christian classic such as C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters” or “The Autobiography of Charles Finney.”

• Stay off the web at night when fatigue makes you vulnerable to temptation. A tired body is a tempted body! Insomniacs beware: Counting sheep prevails over surfing the web.

• Fortify your computer and workspace. Be creative! Place Scripture on your screen saver. Psalms 119:37 says, “Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.” (New Living Translation). Post a photo of your family or spouse nearby. To unblock his computer, one man must type his password, “I will follow Christ.” Another user plays Christian music when online – an audible reminder to avoid porn.

• Randomly or regularly check e-mail transmissions and web history. One family randomly checks their children’s sent and received e-mails. One church has a staff person check the history of all computers each month. Such a measure, for example, might have saved one church staff member from falling into sin and losing his job. A pastor relates that when a support staff person was out sick, another staff member retrieved a needed file from the sick staffer’s computer and found more than the needed file.

• Finally, don’t ask, “How much can I get away with and not be caught?” The prudent man or woman knows that the true mark of a Believer is measured in what he or she would do if they knew they would never be found out!

This article is adapted from Tim Wilkins’ book – MORE THAN WORDS: Walking with Talking at your LGBTQ friends.

Inside MORE THAN WORDS
I find that most persons, whose homosexual attractions are unwanted, fixate on the half-dozen or so Bible verses that prohibit homosexuality (the “clobber” passages)– and ignore the rest of Scripture. Are we to believe that the remainder of the Bible is just window-dressing? No, we need the whole counsel of God.