It happened again. For the third time in six months, the pastor of a
large church in my hometown of Orlando, Fla., has resigned from his
pulpit because of adultery. I’m sad. I’m sick. I’m sorry for the
pastors, and sorrier for the congregations that are having to deal with
the fallout caused by bad choices.
I’m also cringing because an
increasingly hostile public sees these train wrecks as evidence that
Christians are hypocrites who preach one thing and live another. We
stand for biblical marriage between one man and one woman, but in many
cases those marriages are failing. No wonder the gay community hates our
flimsy platitudes.
Why are we witnessing this epidemic of moral
failure? Many factors could be cited (easy access to pornography,
sex-saturated entertainment, the devil and his demons, etc.)—but I don’t
think we need a list of excuses today. I’m tired of excuses. The devil
does not make us do this. It is totally possible for Christian men and
women to live in holiness today. The power of His grace is not affected
by social trends or hell’s attacks.
Maybe we’ve made this too complicated. Let’s go back to some basic ways we can stay pure:
1. Practice regular “fire drills.”
Paul told Timothy to “flee” from youthful lusts (2 Tim. 2:22). But you
can’t flee a burning building if you don’t know where the exits are. If
you don’t map out your plan of escape, you won’t run when you are
confronted with a lustful glance, an X-rated website or a brazen
proposition. When faced with temptation, don’t play with it, talk to it,
stroke it, analyze it or revisit it in an hour. Just bolt for the door!
2. Don’t live in isolation.
Many people are vulnerable to moral compromise because they spend so
much time alone. God designed us to live in community. If King David had
not left his brothers on the battlefield and returned home, he would
not have seen Bathsheba skinny-dipping on the roof. You are less likely
to succumb to temptation if you are surrounded by family or Christian
friends.
3. Stay faithful in spiritual disciplines. Nothing
makes the heart colder than a lack of quiet time with God. Charles
Spurgeon said, “Prayer will make you leave off sinning, or sinning will
make you leave off praying.” If you have spent time with Jesus in the
morning, you are not going to invite Delilah to cut your hair off that
evening. If you are too busy with your work to pray and read the Bible,
you are already headed for a spiritual train wreck.
4. Be ruthless with temptation.
Today’s wimpish Christian culture encourages us to be soft toward sin.
Yet the apostle Paul used athletic imagery when he taught about the
strenuous effort of resisting sin. He wrote, “I discipline my body and
make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself
will not be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27, NASB). If you can’t resist
looking at a pornographic website, you are a spiritual baby. If you
can’t run when Potiphar’s wife turns on her charm, you need to get your
jellyfish spine in shape. Grow up and quit making excuses for your weak
morals.
5. Confess your sins regularly. Last weekend during
a men’s conference in Philadelphia, one brave brother shared openly how
he had been molested as a child—and how the trauma of abuse led him
into a pattern of fornication. After he shared his weakness, dozens of
men felt the freedom to come to the altar and confess their sexual sins.
Transparency is the path to sexual purity. You cannot expect to be pure
if your inner life is a cesspool of ugly secrets. Tell somebody. Get
the monkey off your back.
6. Keep the home fires burning.
I’ve met many Christian men who struggle with all kinds of sexual
temptation. But after talking with them, I learn that they have no
regular intimacy with their wives. The apostle Paul taught that husbands
and wives have an equal responsibility to fulfill each other sexually
(1 Cor. 7:3). If the fires have gone out in your marriage, find a
counselor or enroll in a marriage course in your church. God can
rekindle romance and repair your communication breakdown before your
chilly marriage freezes beyond repair.
7. Get regular spiritual checkups.
Adults are supposed to see a doctor annually to prevent heart ailments,
cancer and other problems. Yet many of us never open our lives to input
from pastors or mentors. (And many pastors have no one to examine
them!) Learn to ask for prayer and counsel. Share your struggles and
weaknesses. If you detect a weak spot in your armor, don’t wait until
the devil blows you out of the water to ask someone for help.
SOURCE: Ministry Today.
