Lie #1: “They’re all going to do it anyway”

This is most often spoken with respect to young people.  They’re all going to have sex regardless of what we say, so let’s make sure they at least use protection.  Now, I’m all for protection, but this again is religious left dogma, because it looks purely at the letter of the law and ignores the heart.  Jesus constantly accused the religious Jews of His day of doing the same thing.  With your lips you honor God, but your hearts are far from Him.  God hates lip service and insincerity.  He condemns it over and over again in the Old and New Testaments.

The belief that sex has no consequences, as long as it’s protected from disease or pregnancy, denies any damage to the heart and soul that results from spreading yourself around among all these people.  To deny the emotional consequences of sleeping around as a teenager is to deny reality.  Look at all the drama that happens, the conflict, the backbiting, the gossip, the “sexting” without permission of a former boyfriend or girlfriend.  Not to mention the guilt, the lack of fulfillment, the emptiness.  We teachers see it all the time in our students.  It also misplaces their focus on things other than their work and their future.

Now, I’m not advocating for no sex education, and I don’t want to get into all the fuss about it.  My only point here is that “they’re all going to do it anyway” basically surrenders to defeat before a shot has been fired.

Why is everyone so afraid to try to inspire our youth to righteousness?  To make sound decisions.  To aspire to relational purity.  Can this be done, even without “religion” (which means Christianity) in public schools?  It sure ought to be.  There are few advantages to not doing it this way, and lots of consequences.  Even if no one gets pregnant.

The same lie applies to guys looking at porn, and masturbation, and all the other associated things.  This lie also gets phrased as “boys will be boys.”  I’ve always hated that line.  In other words, your fiancé is going to have a stripper for his bachelor party.  He’s going to go out with the boys, get drunk, get a few lap dances on his last night of “freedom,” but then he’ll be all yours.  What a bunch of crap.  Why do women settle for such losers?

NOT all men do this.  Lots and lots and lots of men don’t do this, in fact.  If you’re a woman reading this, and your boyfriend says all guys do this stuff, dump him.  If you’re already married to one, pray for him.  If he’s a Christian, use Bible verses like those throughout this blog to help him see the truth.  This lie is selfishness at its finest, and in the end he will hurt your heart, or worse.  Same with drugs.  My students so often believe that everyone has tried drugs of some kind.  They actually don’t believe me when I say I’ve never smoked pot.  They are totally convinced that everyone does it.  Hey, I’ve never smoked pot.  And guess what?  I’m not unique or unusual in this respect.  Millions upon millions of people out there have never smoked pot!  Millions!

The lie that they’re all going to do it anyway is promulgated to appease the seared consciences of all the people who are doing it.  They want to feel better about their sin, so they concoct the fantasy that everyone does it, which by definition makes it okay.  (Even if everyone did do something, does that mean God thinks it’s okay?  Who’s opinion is the only one that matters?)

This lie is insidious, and as you can see, applies to much more than porn.  But if you have a porn problem, it is likely that the knowledge of its widespread and mainstream acceptance has mitigated your sense of shame and guilt, and tempered your urgency to seek freedom from it.  Listen: Not every man looks at porn.  I know people who have gone decades without it.  All things are possible.  But, possible to whom? Jesus says in Mark 9:23, “All things are possible for the one believing.” (NT Transline).

Therefore, faith must precede freedom.  Faith comes first.  No faith, no freedom.  If you believe the lie that everyone looks at porn, then you don’t believe freedom from this sin, or any other sin you think “everyone” does, is possible.

Defeating the Lie
Here’s one Bible verse that directly counters this lie (I say ‘one,’ because as you just saw, there are others):

II Cor 6:16,17
And what agreement is there for the temple of God with idols?  For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said [in Lev 26:12] that, “I will dwell in them, and I will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out of their midst and be separated,” says the Lord, “and do not touch an unclean thing.”
(NT Transline)

Personalize it: I am the temple of the living God.  You will be my God, and I am your child.

Why this verse?  Because it expresses the desire of our spirits to be pure, to be close to God, and to be unchained from any evil in the world.  It does not mean to have no friends who aren’t Christians, or to never leave the confines of a church.  It does not mean public schools are evil, or that R-rated movies (rated by the religious left) are all of the devil.  What it means is, our hearts are not to be enslaved to anything of this world, and no sin should be competing with God for the desires of our hearts.

This verse declares to your heart that not everyone indulges in whatever sin has enslaved you.  Those who want freedom and a clean heart are those who want their bodies to truly be a temple for God’s Spirit.  This verse declares that it is possible to not sin.  In fact, not only is it possible, it’s your destiny if you are indeed a child of God, and your body His temple.

In the Old Testament, God spent years teaching the people how to construct the Tabernacle as a place to house His presence.  Years were devoted to cleansing all the tools and instruments that would be used in it.  When the first temple was built, the same thing happened again.  Why?  Because God wanted them (and us) to understand that sin and His presence do not coexist.  God does not dwell where sin reigns.  So if sin reigns in your heart, then you are not functioning as a temple of God.  But He’s knocking, and He wants back in.  (I’m not talking about salvation here, please don’t misunderstand….I’m merely showing why God wants our hearts to be clean).

Psalm 51:10-12
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. (NAS)

I love this psalm, and the song that was written based upon it.  Remember, this was written before Christ, and yet David here talks about “salvation.”  Salvation is found with the presence of God dwelling in us.  It is possible to have a clean heart, and don’t believe the lie that says it isn’t.

Have you ever wondered, when Judah was conquered by Babylon in 586 B.C., why the invading army didn’t die when they destroyed the temple?  If you recall, only one priest per year was allowed to enter the inner room, the “holy of holies,” of the temple.  Yet, this temple, along with this sacred room, was destroyed by godless invaders, and none of them died entering this room.

Why did God let them live, and yet He killed Aaron’s two sons long before when they entered the same room?  Because by the time Babylon invaded, God’s presence had left.  And why did His presence depart?  Because the people had turned away from God and His Law, and were living for themselves.  God no longer dwelled with them, and so their “consecrated” temple became just a building.

God wants to dwell in you, and wants you to remove all the other things from your heart.  It is possible.  The power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God accomplish it in a willing heart.