Friday, May 11, 2007

Slavery to desire

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:11-13).

A problem every one of us struggles with is desire. But by desire, I do not mean the pursuit of material goods or riches; by desire, I refer to the human craving to experience pleasure. Desire is the powerful drive within us to make our bodies feel good.

Desire takes on many forms. Our bodies can be pleasured in a lot of different ways, and marketers are constantly pushing all sorts of products at us to make us feel good. We want to smell pleasant things, so new perfumes and aftershaves hit the shelves every year. We want our skin to feel comfortable, so we are offered body oils and silky clothing. We enjoy looking at beautiful things, so artists paint pictures for our living rooms and web page designers offer us a bewildering array of desktop themes and screensavers. We like hearing pretty sounds, so musicians constantly record new songs for us to purchase and listen to.

But besides the obvious problem of constantly spending money to get the next new product, the desires of the senses can lead us into sinful behavior. Consider food, for example. Americans, as a whole, are more overweight today than at any time in history. We have access to such a wide variety of foods at grocery stores and restaurants that there is considerable temptation to try everything. To make matters worse, many fast food outlets let you buy larger portions at a discount, encouraging us to order too much because we think that by purchasing in larger quantities, we are getting more for our money.

The problem with being overweight is that it is unhealthy for the body. This is a concern because of what St. Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 6:19-20: Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. We are to regard our bodies as we regard the church where we gather to worship God. If we meet in a church where the paint is peeling, the roof leaks, the windows are broken and the altar is mildewed, what does that say about our love towards our God? And since our bodies are God’s instruments in showing His love and care to those in need here on earth, what does it say about our devotion to God when we are too out of shape to climb the stairs in an apartment building to visit a widow, or that after feeding ourselves we have no money left to give to the poor? Paul says of Christ’s enemies, Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things (Philippians 3:19). Their god is their stomach; Paul tells us that the pursuit of feeling good in the body can become a false religion, a lifestyle that hedges God out of our hearts.

Related to the sin of overeating is the sin of substance abuse. Marijuana, cocaine, nicotine and alcohol all have one thing in common—they make us feel good, while offering no benefit to the body. People do not become healthier as a result of smoking, drinking, or shooting up. And the problems with substance abuse go beyond the abuse of our bodies. Addiction dictates the choices that we make. The need for more heroin can drive an honest person to steal. The need for a drink can prompt a husband to lie to his wife. The need for nicotine can make a person risk their health by standing outside in below zero temperatures during break time. Addiction controls behavior, and whatever dictates our choices has become our god.

Additionally, substance abuse hurts those whom we love. How many hung-over parents have missed seeing their children compete at school? How many women have been beaten up by an out-of-control husband? How many people have been killed in accidents caused by drivers who were unable to think clearly or react quickly? How many babies have been born with birth defects because their mother was addicted to smoking or drinking or drugs during her pregnancy? Substance abuse fills the body with pleasure, but at a terrible cost.

One more type of bodily desire that needs to be discussed is the desire for sexual pleasure. Sexual desire is a gift of God; it is intended to draw a man and a woman together into a life-long marriage of body, mind and soul. But our society has separated sexual gratification from life-long monogamy; the media constantly tells us that sex is just one more thing that you do to feel good. And sex, taken out of marriage, is behavior that is both sinful and damaging.

The act of making love is intended by God to strengthen the bond between a man and a woman. But when sex is reduced to a recreational activity shared with several different people, it loses its ability to act as a glue because it has been spread thinly among many people, and its attempts to create connections have been broken repeatedly. When person who has treated sex in this way gets married, one of the powerful glues of marriage has been dramatically weakened, and the marriage is at greater risk of eventual break-up.

Another problem with focusing so much attention on the pleasures of sex is that it can all too easily lead to infidelity. In Exodus 20:14 God commanded: You shall not commit adultery. When two people get married, they pledge to each other their fidelity—in other words, the act of showing love through sex is reserved for they alone; sex is the outward sign of their committed love. Adultery is the breaking of that vow. Adultery happens when the desire for sex becomes separate from the desire for a permanent partnership. Adultery breaks the marriage vow of committed love.

Adultery is destructive to relationships. When a husband or wife has been cheated on, it is such a complete betrayal that the Bible gives permission to get a divorce. Adultery destroys marriages, and thus families—and families are the backbone of any society. All relationships are built on trust—and anyone who has seen trust so terribly betrayed as it is through adultery, finds it very difficult to trust in any relationship in the future—including trusting in the God who never will betray them. In the final analysis, this is why God condemns adultery so strongly—because the betrayal of adultery destroys the ability to trust, and without trust we cannot have a saving relationship with Jesus.

Adultery starts with sinful desire. In Matthew chapter 5 Jesus tells us, you have heard that it was said, `Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. This sin is so serious that Jesus goes on to say, If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Now of course we do not take Jesus literally here; if we were without hands or eyes to guide them, our effectiveness as His servants would be greatly lessened. But Jesus strongly urges us to avoid those things that can lead into sin. If you are tempted to cheat on your wife with a woman at the office, consider getting a job where you will not see that woman every day. If your friends tempt you to join them in binge drinking, cultivate new friendships. If you are tempted to overeat, don’t fill your kitchen with fattening snacks. Paul writes, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize (1 Corinthians 9:27).

Paul warns us not to be like godless people: Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more (Ehesians 4:19). Lust is a consuming desire for pleasure, be it sex, drugs, or fattening food. Notice Paul’s concern--a continual lust for more. A full stomach soon becomes empty; every high is followed by a crash; sexual union only satisfies sexual appetite for a short time. When we become addicted to pleasure, it is an addiction that is never satisfied for long.

King Herod was a man controlled by his desires. His lust for his brother’s wife moved him to marry her in violation of God’s law. His lust for partying left him vulnerable to manipulation; besotted with a young woman’s dancing, Herod ended up getting tricked into ordering the beheading of John the Baptist (Mark chapter 6). Herod had the Savior of the nations standing before him on Good Friday, but instead of using the opportunity to repent of his acts of lust and murder and seek Jesus’ forgiveness, the only thing that Herod wanted from our Lord was for our Him to perform miracles for Herod’s entertainment. Since Jesus would not jump through Herod’s hoops, Herod sent our Lord back to Pilate to be put to death (Luke chapter 23). Jesus died because of people whose lives were controlled by desire; Jesus died to free people from slavery to desire.

Jesus was not a slave to the pleasures of the body. Jesus was always in complete control of Himself; His thinking was never clouded by drunkenness. For Jesus, meals were not a time to take pleasure in eating; rather, they were a time to take pleasure in the company of others and to teach about the kingdom of God. The Pharisees resented Jesus for eating with ‘sinners’, but it was as they dined together that Jesus spoke of the truly important things—about God’s love for sinful men, and His desire that all people turn their backs on sinful pleasures and instead dedicate themselves to following Jesus as the only way to the Father in heaven. It was at a dinner table that Jesus broke bread, blessed it, and gave it to His disciples saying "Take and eat; this is my body" (Matthew 26:26). It was at a dinner table that Jesus blessed the cup, gave it to His disciples and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" (Luke 22:20). When the devil tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread, Jesus replied: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Later on in His ministry, Jesus told His disciples, I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (John 6:48-51). Jesus tells us that, in the long term, earthly pleasures do not satisfy—only Christ can give us true satisfaction.

We do not need to be slaves to pleasure. Paul shows us the alternative in Philippians chapter 4, verse 11-13: I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. We can live without addiction to earthly pleasures; ask Jesus, and He will free you to be truly content in Him.

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