The One About Prostitution, Pornography, and Other Stuff, Part II

This blog post will make more sense if you read the previous post.  Click HERE if you want to be able to understand this entry in context.  If not, carry on then.

Issues.  That’s kind of where I left off on my last post in which I spent a great deal of time discussing pornography.

That whole porn discussion came about because of some media coverage of a local prostitution sting.  I started thinking about how so many regular people can end up in very unfortunate situations (like having their mug shots on TV) because of choices that lead to habits that become addictions, etc.

For some, and let’s be real people, for MANY, pornography is an issue.  As I discussed (or rambled) in that previous post, anything that we fail to master can become our master and eventually ruin us.  Porn is a huge issue, but there are others.  If there is anything in our lives that we depend on or think we MUST have to find true comfort and satisfaction, then….we have issues.  Or addictions.  Or, dare I say it…. sin.  (?)  Ouch.  No one likes that “s” word.  Ouch.  I really feel like backspacing and deleting that, but I think I’ll just keep going and leave it there because it is what it is. Right?

Ouch.

This is my blog, and I can say what I want to.  I could create some much more interesting identity and I could tell some wonderful stories to make you think I have it all together.  But, most of you who read this anyway really DO know the real me, so trying to be anything other than what I am would be pointless.  And dishonest. Therefore, to act as if I don’t have issues would be wrong.  Right?

A few weeks ago I watched the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  One scene that really disturbed me was when a morbidly obese man shared that his family had just asked him if he had any objections to being cremated when he died; they were concerned that they wouldn’t be able to afford the specially made casket that would be necessary to hold a man of his size, and cremation would be a much more economical option in his situation.  How awkward and embarrassing--especially when the obese man wasn't necessarily at death's door.  But that could actually be the case for someone like me with all of MY “issues.”  I may not be the one busted on the news for involvement in a prostitution scandal, but my own “issues” could still lead me to much pain and embarrassment if they aren’t properly dealt with.

And that’s where I left off with my last blog post.  What do we do--

 –and I type “WE” because I don’t think I’m the only person out there who struggles with some sort of addiction, issue, or that “s” word—

What do WE do about our struggles?  Are we stuck forever?

Thanks be to God, no.  We are not stuck.

A few months back, I read some awesome articles that dealt specifically with the issue of addiction to Internet pornography, but the help offered for overcoming this addiction can ABSOLUTELY apply to any other addiction or "issue."  In one of the articles, the author, John Piper, references a study that was done that has shown that these things:  (please stay with me here)

• Internet pornography affects the human brain in the way that both cocaine and heroin affect the brain,

• Internet pornography literally "changes the physical brain matter within the brain" by forming neurological pathways which "require pornographic material in order to trigger" the desired sensations of pleasure and release, and

• while chemical substances like cocaine and heroin will eventually be metabolized out of the body, pornographic images cannot be filtered out of the brain because they are stored there permanently.

If you've never read or heard about this research, you really ought to check out the links below because I have neither the ability nor the time to fully explain all that studies have revealed about the "addictiveness" of pornography.

The long and short of it it this:  pornography makes a literal mark on the brain and then, because it triggers addictive brain chemicals, it causes the porn user to crave more porn in the same way a drug addict craves his or her next high.

So what is a person struggling with a pornography addiction to do?  Where should a person begin to find help?  Well, he or she --along with anyone else with any other type of addiction or "issue"-- can begin by asking God for a transformed mind.  

"...we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another..." (2 Corinthians 3:18) 

This may seem rather cliche' at first, but it's true.  It's real.  It works.  Beholding the glory of Jesus--learning of Him, meditating on Him and His tremendous love, seeking Him in His Word--THIS leads to transformation.  I've seen it happen in the lives of people I know.  I've seen for myself how God radically changes the thoughts, hearts, habits, dreams, and actions of men and women who have stuffed their brains and hearts full of Jesus and His Word; EVERYTHING about them changes.  
I'm not saying their struggles have disappeared completely, but I'm saying they are no longer slaves being dragged down the pornographic paths that have been imprinted on their brains.  Piper writes, 

we should take hold of this amazing connection and claim what the Bible claims: Beholding the glory of the Lord, we are being changed (2 Corinthians 3:18). Of course seeing nudes changes the brain. But why should we think that seeing the glory of Christ exerts a weaker change? 

If brain paths pervert our affections and our behavior, do not make the wild mistake of assuming sanctification can only make weaker paths. 

Paul calls you to “be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:23–24). Watch out, lest you assume that the renewal of “the spirit of the mind” leaves no trace in the paths of the brain. It does. 

Paul says, “Put on the new man, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10). If the seeing of Internet nakedness creates new paths in the brain, how much more the seeing of Christ — the spiritual sight of “the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). We are not left to create new brains for ourselves: “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:10). Do not be cowed by brain research. God made the brain and wrote the Book. 

Y'all, I don't have permission to name names, but I KNOW THIS WORKS.  REALLY.  

If you are struggling with addictions or issues of any kind, you--WE-- really can find true transformation in Christ.  He can lead you--He can lead ANY OF US--to real freedom.  The process of changing your brain may also involve some sort of counseling and accountability, but as you seek Him, you can trust Him to lead you along the paths and to the people who can help you along the way.  Really.  You can trust Him.  He really IS the answer.

If any part of this rambling post resonates with you, please consider reading the articles and listening to the podcast links below--they will be more helpful and more coherent than I can ever be. One of Piper's articles gives some especially awesome strategies on defeating temptation; his remarks on "the bloody Christ, body odors, and bears" are thought-provoking and liberating (and hilarious).

 "Hijacking Back Your Brain From Porn"

"Pornography: The New Narcotic"

The Andy Savage Show: Purity is Sexy, Part 2--Guest Michael Horner (Episode #75)
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