Caught in the
Net
Curiosity kills cats
and Christians
Together with the blessings of modern technology
come many temptations and dangers. Internet pornography is certainly one of the most
sinister ways to trap Christians into guilt and, in some cases, deep bondage and ruin.
Pastors and Christian leaders are discovering the
wonders of email. Missionaries in remote places don't need to wait for weeks and months
before receiving letters - with the click of a mouse they can send and receive electronic
letters at very little cost. Isn't this very useful for the Kingdom of God? Unfortunately,
the mouse sometimes becomes a rat and the Internet becomes the net by which Christians are
entrapped.
While examining other wonders of the Internet the
unsuspecting Christian may discover others areas such as Usenet. His curiosity gets the
better of him and soon he is crawling around the Alt.* sites with the most vile pictures
and stories.
He finds that Search machines, such as Yahoo,
Altavista and Excite, are able to unearth mounds of information on almost any subject. And
that's the problem. Searching for certain information may bring him to so-called Adult
sites which have a host of key-words specifically chosen to increase the chances that the
searcher will stumble across their smut. You may even be looking for a sermon illustration
but with the excellent sites that appear are sordid offers of free porn. Left-click the
mouse on adult site, disobeying your conscience, and you're caught. The Christian's
reasoning may go something like this: It's important to know what is going on in the
world; I'll look but not lust; at any time I can simply click my way out. And so begins a
process of gradual entrapment.
Since it is so easy and so private (no necessity
to go to sleazy places to buy smut) it is even more attractive to the naive and
inquisitive. As curiosity gains the better of him the web gets more and more intricate,
and dangerous. Soon, he finds himself downloading lewd images and, after his voyeuristic
drooling, he covers his tracks to make sure no-one finds out. The net tightens, his
conscience squirms but he perseveres. He even prays more frequently - to stifle the Voice
which chides him. Self-justification and self-condemnation are his daily portion.
Some testimonies:
"I was a Christian at the time so at times I
would get convicted by the Holy Spirit and delete everything just to start it up again in
a few days or so. Gradually I lost whatever love I had in serving the Lord and found that
the porn hunt took up my time and energy."
"I needed the endorphin `rush' as much as
the smoker needs nicotine `rush'. It became an expected response to certain stimuli, just
like Pavlov's dogs. And it's hard to break ... the Internet porn habit especially."
"My parents gave me cable with all the
premium channels in my room. So every night after ten o'clock one of those channels would
have a pornographic film. So I watched a movie every night. In January of 1996 my parents
cancelled our cable service. At this point I could not get a hold of any pornography. The
devil did not forget me this time either; he made sure I stayed in sin. In February 1996
we got a computer and with the computer came one of Satan's greatest tools, the Internet.
As you can imagine the first thing I looked up was pornography and boy did I find it! With
the magazines and movies they only showed "soft porn" but the Internet showed
everything." (testimony of a 14 year-old boy who eventually found freedom from his
bondage.)
"The worst part of this is that knowing porn
is wrong, I still like it dearly. I like to watch it whenever I can. Why do I like it so
much? God changed a lot of my other behaviors in other areas of my life; but the lust for
porn (lust of the eye), just seem to be so strong, I can not over come it."
"I can testify that porn is the sin that so
easily entangles. Almost innocent at first, it soon begins to enslave, as does all
sin."
"I have been lost in the smut since I sign
on to the internet. I am a deacon in a church and I am in sin. Please tell me how you
overcome pornography. This seems to be my worst enemy. I am happily married but stays up
all nite behind my wife's back looking at this stuff. I cannot stop myself. "
"I have been struggling with this stuff on
the 'net. The Lord has been dealing with me about it, but I always find myself getting
back to it. "
"I am so amazed and thankful that God allows
us to repent. I deserve so much worse, especially for the sins that I have committed. I do
not deserve Jesus Christ at all. Yet, why do I continue to blatantly disobey God on this
issue of pornography? I do not know the answer. I hate it, and I hate myself for doing it.
"
"I pray almost every night that God will
change my heart and stop my lusting habits. Believe me, I hide it very well. (It reminds
me of Jacob, the deceiver). No one really knows."
"It's so much easier to just sit down at the
computer and find the latest "smut" on the Internet."
"The more and more I think about it and pray
about it, I know I should stop. Yet, knowing and doing are two separate and distinct
things. I've attempted "cold turkey" and I've attempted to divert my attentions
elsewhere. Where I've failed, though, is when I become lonely and the Internet is the only
"friend" out there, where people don't know what you're doing and things are all
`happy'."
"I knew it was a crutch because it caused me
to stay up late at night, when I should have been studying or sleeping. It caused me to
stumble a lot in my faith, and it caused some relationships with others to sour. But I
kept the pornography all to myself. No one knew about it. Except for God."
"Well, I tripped on the world of
pornography, and at first I thought it was harmless. *Big* mistake. First it was clicking
on files on the Web, then it went to decoding articles on newsgroups. I'm sure this may
sound familiar to you. As you may well know, Satan works by the law of escalation. I truly
believe that. One thing leads to another, and then another, and pretty soon you're doing
the exact same thing that before seemed utterly disgusting to you. It's terrible."
"I've been through the sin of collecting
this stuff, getting a dose of conviction, erasing it from the hard drive, confessing to my
wife, and then going back for more a few weeks later. It's so frustrating. (How can anyone
say this has no harm? It certainly harms my ability to communicate with the Lord!)"
"I've been struggling with these temptations
for many months. When these things are done in the privacy of our homes, away from the
watchful eyes of our pastors, elders, neighbors, etc., it's very easy to indulge."
"I have been filled with guilt and it is
getting worse. I have tried to find forgiveness but I don't feel forgiven. I am afraid
that it may be too late and that I have gone too far."
Although one can't lay down the law regarding the
Internet there are a few guidelines which may be helpful:
* Be realistic about whether you really need the
Internet. If it is a constant stumbling block it may be that you should avoid it
altogether or just use the email facilities available. This should be a matter of prayer.
* Beware of curiosity. If you must use search
machines only look for what you specifically need. Plan beforehand so that your search is
targeted and doesn't meander around endlessly.
* You may want to block out adult sites with one
of the many filters which are available on the Net. Some examples may be found at:
http://www.microsys.com/cyber/default.htm, and http://www.surfcontrol.com. Be aware that
these filters are not 100% safe.
* Should you accidently end up on a site that may
be pornographic leave it immediately.
* Avoid other forms of possible temptation that
can be found on TV, videos, computer games and literature.
* Make your choice before you go online, not just
when you're faced with invitations to adult sites.
* Remember that every moment is precious and
you'll have to give an account of your stewardship of time. "Redeem the time" is
easy to disobey on the Internet.
* All porn is counterfeit. "Wilt thou set
thine eyes upon that which is not?" (Prov 23:5).
* If you have been defiled by unclean images,
stories, sounds etc,. Confess and forsake it that very instant.
* Do everything you can to protect your children
from this smut. Find family-friendly sites. Consider a good filter. If this is not
appropriate in your situation then make sure you keep tabs on the sites your children
visit. Watch out though, your 11-year-old may soon discover how to cover his tracks. There
is software available to keep tabs on every site visited where only the parent has the
password. The ideal to aim for though is to get children to consciously choose beforehand
that they will remain pure and not go to sites that they would want to hide from their
parents.
* Seek a mature Christian to whom you can be
regularly accountable.
* Consider these Scriptures:
- "Eat not thou the bread of him that hath
an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats." (Prov 23: 6)
- "I have made a covenant with my eyes not
to look lustfully at a women." (Job 31:1)
- "Resist the devil and he will flee from
you." (James 4:7)
- "...whatever is true, whatever is noble,
whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, ... think about such
things." (Phil 4: 8)
- "It is God's will that you should be
sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality." (1 Thess 4:3)
- "Avoid every appearance of evil." (1
Thess 5:22)
Finally, the story is told that when the
Inquisition House, at Madrid, was destroyed by order of Napoleon the commanding officer
found an image of a beautiful virgin. The workmanship was most perfect, its proportions
were correct, and beauty rested on each chiseled feature. This image was an instrument of
torture. The victim was commanded to go up and embrace the virgin, and as he placed his
lips against the cold lips of the marble a spring was touched, an internal machine was set
in motion and the arms of the virgin, filled with sharp daggers, arose and encircled the
poor sufferer, and, cutting into his flesh, mangled him in a most horrible manner and
destroyed his life.
(by K. Olsen)
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