Why Do I Do What I Don't Want to Do? by Jonathan "JP" Pokluda

Author:Jonathan "JP" Pokluda
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Living;Habit breaking—Religious aspects—Christianity;Virtues;Vices;REL012120;REL012070;REL012040
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2023-01-03T00:00:00+00:00

You Are Carrying Around What’s Killing You

For most people (regardless of what particular sin they struggle with), healing begins the same way: removing access to the thing that is destroying their lives. Every time I speak somewhere (be it on a Sunday morning or a Tuesday night or at a conference or retreat), I will hang around at the front of the stage for as long as people want to talk. It is a great time to have conversations, as people are processing what they just heard in the sermon in real time. Because of my openness about my own prior struggles with pornography, I cannot tell you how many times I have had the following conversation:

“Hey, my story is similar to yours.”

“Oh, you’re addicted to pornography?”

“Yes, I am. Well, I’m struggling with it.”

“OK, thank you for sharing that. Let me ask you a couple of questions so I can better understand. How do you access pornography?”

“Uh, through my phone.”

“Let me ask you another question. Where’s your phone?”

“It’s in my pocket.”

“Oh, I thought you said you were struggling. You’re not struggling; you’re carrying your porn around with you. You have a gateway to millions of explicit images right there in your pocket. You haven’t even begun to fight. You haven’t even begun to pursue healing.”

“So what do you want me to do? Get rid of my phone?”

“That or gouge out your eye. It’s up to you. You get to choose. If you want to call me a legalist, let’s look at the words of Jesus.”

Such an important part of moving toward healing is removing access. Whether it’s through filters, software, or swapping out your phone for one without access to the internet, your commitment to getting well is determined by what you are willing (and not willing) to do. In the same way we would all likely counsel a recovering alcoholic to get all of the alcohol out of their home as a first step, you have to commit to cutting off each pipeline that’s delivering pornography (or any other content that is causing you to lust).

Jesus pulls no punches about lust in his Sermon on the Mount. Here’s what he says:

You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, 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 stumble, 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. (Matt. 5:27–30)

It’s interesting that he says hand when talking about lust. (I think this is an allusion to masturbation.) Jesus is telling us here that lust is not something to play around with.

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