This summer I saw an advertisement for a new show that looked like it might be good. I watched the first couple of episodes and decided it was a show I was going to like. Sadly, halfway through the summer, it became a show I no longer wanted to watch or wanted my girls to watch.
I watch very little television these days. Why? Because I struggle to find good programming out there that doesn’t glorify sex, conflict and crime. Even sitcoms I find very funny I have stopped watching because almost every episode glorifies the concept of sex outside of marriage. I do not want to fill my mind with that kind of breakdown of moral standards nor do I want my daughters watching it. Society condemns teen pregnancies and STDs but pushes teenagers and adults toward sexual activity through all forms of media. No wonder abortion rates are so high. Society punishes those who commit a crime against another person but ratings show that Americans love sitting and watching programming that glorifies violent crimes. Each show tries to outdo their competitors by creating a more horrible and shocking crime scene than the week before.
Our society is no different than ancient societies who were entertained by death and by the perversion of sex, which God intended as good within the marriage relationship. Paul addressed issues of sexual sin within the church as well as many other sins that would keep them from experiencing ALL that God had planned for them. Once again, I studied Paul’s letter to the Corinthians over a hot cup of my morning coffee with God.
Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive or cheat people – none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that.
But you were cleansed;
you were made holy;
you were made right with God
by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
You say, “I am allowed to do anything” – but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.
Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. – 1 Corinthians 6:9-20
I feel cautioned this morning. How many times have I agreed that sexual sin is wrong but then spent hours “entertained” by movies or television shows that use topics of sexual immorality or drunkenness in an attempt to make me laugh? I can argue that I would never be tempted to follow the examples of the actors or characters, but it is more about the slow fade or breakdown of our society’s moral standards – sadly both inside and outside of the church.
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? – 1 Corinthians 3:16
Paul says, “Run away from sexual sin!” May we, as the body of Christ, heed Paul’s warning and start eliminating what the enemy intends to use to harm us. May we, as the temple of God, protect our minds from all that glorifies sin and fill our minds with what glorifies God.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. – Philippians 4:8-9