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Season 3 Ep 7 - Making Art: The 7 Deadly Sins - Lust
99 Plays2 years ago
Mentioned in this episode:
Questions to ask yourself
- Where am I most tempted in this area?
- Are there situations/hobbies I need to flee from?
- How is a disordered desire in my life using someone else?
- Where do I need to repent to allow disordered desires to rule me?
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This podcast is produced and edited by Angie Elkins Media, Inc.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Root Like Faith'
00:00:01
Speaker
Hi, I'm Ruth Schwank and I'm so thrilled you're listening in with us at Root Like Faith. It is our deepest desire to encourage and equip men and women to be rooted in God's word, transformed by the love of Jesus and moved by his mission in the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is more important.
Making Art Series: Seven Deadly Sins
00:00:17
Speaker
Well, today we continue our series called Making Art. It's a series we are doing through the season of Lent. And we've been exploring the seven deadly sins and why pursuing holiness or virtue actually frees us to love God and others as we should. So we've talked about pride. We've talked about greed.
Focus on Lust in Lent
00:00:37
Speaker
And this week, we're talking about lust. So yes, this is a heavy topic, but I think it's really, really important. And as we have said from the beginning, Lent is a season where we are intentionally drawing closer to Jesus to be more like Jesus. And so we hope and pray that today's episode continues to help in that journey.
00:00:58
Speaker
So we're in this season of Lent, right? We're right in the middle of it, honey. We sure are, yeah. We just really kind of in the first couple weeks of Lent. And like you said, this is a heavy series. I mean, we're talking about the seven deadly sins.
Virtue Over Vice
00:01:10
Speaker
But as we said from the very beginning, I mean, the idea of putting on virtue, walking in holiness is to free us to love God and to love others as we should. It's in a very real sense to enable us to be able to give the best of who we are to other people. And so as we pursuing Jesus,
00:01:25
Speaker
in a very intentional way through Lent, that the goal is to emerge at Easter looking more and more like Jesus, which of course look like loving the Father and loving others sacrificially and freely. And I think even though it's heavy, I think there is this hope in the midst of it, because if you've been following along, we're talking about what these vices of, like we've talked about, like I said, pride and greed and this week, lust,
Balance Between Sin Awareness and Redemption
00:01:50
Speaker
And then on the other side of that, of each of those, vice is a virtue. And I feel like that's where the hope is. Yeah. You know, we haven't really talked about this, but I think in the past we have. And I think, you know, so many times when we think about just the spiritual life, like it's really easy to get discouraged. And it's really sometimes I think we.
00:02:08
Speaker
we err in two ways. Either we just get so consumed with our sin and we feel condemned, we forget that we've been made alive by Christ, or we don't care enough about sin. And it doesn't move us anymore. It doesn't convict us that we've become so callous. But I think, yeah, it's so easy for us sometimes as we're intentionally pursuing the life of Christ to get discouraged. And so as we're talking about these seven deadly sins, it's really important
00:02:34
Speaker
to remember that the focus isn't just on the sin, but the newness of life that God is offering us. And there's that positive side to each of these deadly sins. And so as we've talked about already, as we talked about pride, the positive side is humility. And so we're to kill pride in our life through the power of the Holy Spirit, but we're to clothe ourselves in humility or greed, we talked about, I think in week two. And so we're to kill the sin of greed and to clothe ourselves in generosity.
Lust's Impact on Culture
00:03:00
Speaker
And as we do that,
00:03:01
Speaker
as we're dying to sin and coming alive to Christ through His work of grace in us, again, we're becoming more and more free to love God and to love others as we should. And it's really hard to love people when you're full of pride, when you're full of yourself. It's really hard to love others as we should when we're stingy with our time or our treasure, our talent. And as we're talking about today, this deadly sin of lust, I mean, what a relevant, I mean, all these sins are relevant, but what a relevant
00:03:26
Speaker
deadly sin that literally is in our culture today is destroying Souls, it's destroying marriages. It's destroying families. I mean It's again deadly for a reason and so we think about this idea of putting to death What's what's killing so many people in our culture so that there might be this resurrection life this new life?
00:03:48
Speaker
in a marriage, in a family,
Defining Lust and Its Distortion
00:03:50
Speaker
in a son or a daughter. And that's what we're after. I mean, Jesus changes everything in the life of somebody. And that's what we want for people. It's what we want for our own life. And so that's why we're doing this series and just really paying attention to these, especially closely during the Lenten season.
00:04:05
Speaker
So let's jump in then to this topic of lust and just I guess begin by talking about simply what lust is, maybe a simple definition of lust. I think maybe one definition that has been given, it's just a really simple way of thinking about lust is this, that it's a disordered desire for sexual pleasure.
00:04:25
Speaker
I love this quote. Everybody ought to read Mere Christianity if they haven't yet. It's one of those books that you just ought to read every year if you hope to get in heaven. It's an incredible book, but I love there's this little chunk in Mere Christianity where Lewis is talking about lust, and this is what he says. He uses this analogy. He says, now suppose you came to a country where you could fill a theater by simply bringing a covered plate
00:04:48
Speaker
on the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let everyone see that just before the lights went out that it contained a mutton chop or a bit of bacon. Would you not think that that country, in that country, something had gone wrong with the appetite for food? And so, of course, he's using sort of this this comical illustration of going into a theater and revealing this this food on a piece of plate. And he's making the point that that's exactly what's happening in our culture as it relates to sex and to sexuality.
00:05:17
Speaker
Yeah, and he's saying that's why they came there. The only reason they came was to see this one
Sexuality as God's Creation
00:05:22
Speaker
piece of bacon on a plate. And just, again, the idea that if you were to go to a country and that's what people were doing, you would say something has gone wrong, that there is a natural desire for food, but something is disordered, something has gotten out of whack in that country, in that place, in those folks' hearts. And that's exactly when we think about lust.
00:05:41
Speaker
It is a disordered desire, and so something has gone wrong. We're going to talk just a minute how sex and sexuality is a good thing, that God is the creator of sex and that He meant it for our good, for our pleasure, for procreation. And yet, like all sins, we take something good
00:06:03
Speaker
and we distort it and we use it on our own terms and instead of bringing joy, instead of bringing intimacy, instead of bringing life, what we see in our culture is we see it bringing brokenness and shame and great destruction. And so that would be just a very, very simple definition of lust that it's a distorted desire for sexual pleasure.
00:06:27
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, you know, what's interesting is this is a big deal. The Bible says a lot about sexual sin, about lust, all of that. And so I think that it would be really good to just talk about from a biblical perspective, you know, all that. Obviously, we can't talk about all the Bible says about, you know, sexual sin and all of that. But let me read a few verses from Mark chapter seven, verses twenty one through twenty three.
00:06:57
Speaker
And I...
Transformation Through the Holy Spirit
00:07:16
Speaker
I don't know. I feel like maybe that should just be the hallmark scripture for this whole series because that's the reality, right? And that's why we're talking about these vices and these virtues and how important it is to kill those sins and clothe ourselves with the virtue that's on the other side of that vice.
00:07:34
Speaker
Yeah, I think one of the important things just to remember as we think about Mark 7, Jesus is saying that for it's from within. In other words, the problem begins in the human heart that we have a fallen heart, we have a sinful heart, and our heart needs to be converted through the power of the Holy Spirit.
00:07:52
Speaker
to be an experience of God's power in His presence through the Holy Spirit. We need to go from death to life. I mean, that's what happens when we confess our sins, when in repentance and faith, we look to Jesus as our Savior. There's this conversion of our heart. And yet we all know as well that as we're continuing to grow in righteousness and holiness, there's this battle that's going on that we're being
00:08:14
Speaker
transformed and renewed from the inside out, and there's still an awful lot inside of us within the heart that needs to die. There's still a lot of sin that needs to be purged. But Jesus is saying here that it's from within, that lust has a way of sneaking into the human heart.
00:08:31
Speaker
And we have this disordered desire for sexual pleasure, but it comes from within. And that phrase that Mark uses here, sexual immorality, is really a very broad phrase. I mean, in Greek, it's porneia, where we get our word for pornography. And it really includes everything outside of the marital act. And so when you think of
00:08:51
Speaker
what God intended in Genesis 1, Genesis 2, that God intended for a man and a woman to experience marriage, to experience life together, to experience the joy of sex and bringing children into the world.
Biblical Perspective on Sexual Immorality
00:09:08
Speaker
And so what Mark is reminding us of is what God's people have known from the very, very beginning that anything outside of that marital bond is considered pornia, sexual immorality. So there's all sorts of things
00:09:20
Speaker
that we could include within Porneo or sexual immorality, but Jesus is saying that it's from within the heart, that lust originates, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, and you read those already. But again, as we said already that sex and sexuality is good, but after the fall, desires, they become disordered.
00:09:40
Speaker
And lust is a big one that many people struggle with, especially in our culture today. Well, let me read 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 through 6. It says, As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more, for you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
00:10:04
Speaker
It is God's will that you should be sanctified, that you should avoid sexual immorality, that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans who do not know God, and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. And I just think about these verses in the Bible and think, wow,
00:10:29
Speaker
During that time, this must have been a big problem and it's no different today, obviously. But there's a reason. These words are so strong and it's so pointed, I feel like, at this issue because it's a struggle. And it's a struggle for a lot of people. It's a struggle not only back then when these words were written, but now it hasn't gone away.
00:10:49
Speaker
No, no, I think sometimes we have this view of culture as if our culture is, you know, we forget that the first century audience that we're receiving, you know, some of these letters, some of these words. I mean, the Greco-Roman world was
00:11:05
Speaker
pretty perverted. I mean, it was bad news. I think about Paul's words to the Christians in Ephesus where he says, don't even let a hint of sexual immorality be among you. Ephesus was home to the Artemisian temple and the Artemisian cult, and Ephesus was one of the most perverted cults in the ancient world. It was one of the seven wonders of the world. And so Paul was saying, listen, as a follower of Jesus, don't even let there be a hint of sexual immorality
00:11:30
Speaker
darkness has no impact on darkness. And so he's calling them to walk and to live in such a way. And that was one of the things that was so radical when you read church history, so radical about the early believers is they had such a very different sexual ethic than the culture around them. Now, not always, obviously at the time, at any time, you have believers who are not walking faithfully or obediently.
00:11:52
Speaker
But as a whole, one of the things you notice when you read church history is their sexual ethic was so different than the surrounding culture. And what we've seen, even within the church, is that we've caved in many ways and we've compromised, we've taken on the world's values and said, no, it's okay to live in this way. And one of those obviously that we're dealing with today is just
00:12:14
Speaker
homosexuality or the transgender movement. And many Christians, many church leaders even, are trying to reinterpret the Bible to endorse a lifestyle that the Bible never teaches that is totally foreign to church history over the last 2,000 years.
Challenges of a Sexualized Culture
00:12:30
Speaker
And so, you know, I think about social media, you know, I mean, just how prevalent images and videos are and the challenges that people face. As you think about a parent,
00:12:40
Speaker
in trying to raise kids that will grow up and love Jesus. I mean the unique challenges that we face as it relates to this theme, I mean it's just celebrated over and over again in terms of the way men and women dress and you go into certain stores and the kinds of you in children's clothing that's being sold. I mean we just live in a very sexualized culture. And so to walk in chastity, to walk in purity,
00:13:06
Speaker
is increasingly becoming difficult, not just for moms and dads or for men and women, but also for kids and for young adults and for teens. And so it's so important to remember what Christ has called us to and the benefit. Again, going back, the life that God wants for us
00:13:22
Speaker
He wants life. I mean, we were created to experience the abundant life. And as we've talked about many times, just one of the added benefits of being in ministry over the years is you get to be a part of lots of people's lives. And the pain of that is you get to see also the way people's lives have fallen apart and marriages have fallen apart.
00:13:43
Speaker
And nobody walks into my office or nobody has over the last 20 years and said, boy, I just blew up my marriage because I was being too pure. I was walking in faithfulness to Jesus and it wrecked my family. It wrecked my relationship with my son and my daughter. But as we know, we could share all sorts of stories over the years of
00:14:03
Speaker
different ways that people have broken marriages, broken family life because of sexual immorality. And so God wants life for us. That's what He created. It's when we take a good desire like sex or sexuality and begin to redefine it or use it in our own terms that it brings pain and separation, brokenness and shame. Yeah. And I think that is one of the dangers of lust, right? Is that we become enslaved. We're like slaves. We have chains around us. The more you feed that, the more enslaved you become.
00:14:33
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And so what what other things do you feel like are so dangerous about lust? Well, I think you know what you were saying I mean that I think one of the things that yeah you think about that It's so dangerous about about lust or any other deadly sin is the more you feed that monster The more it desires to be fed right and so we become more and more enslaved to that But I think the second thing
00:14:54
Speaker
that is really, really important for us to think about is that it sees other people as objects. And as we've said before, the virtuous life, walking in holiness or righteousness, it frees us to love God and to love others as we should. And so if I'm a man or a woman that's wrestling with lust or giving in to lust and choosing sexual immorality over purity or chastity, then I'm really using people. I'm not serving them. I'm not looking out for their wellbeing.
00:15:22
Speaker
Living in such a way seeing them in such a way or treating them in such a way that is for their benefit But I'm just gratifying my own selfish sinful desires And so I think one thing that's so dangerous about lust is what it does to others and so that that would be another thing that I think is so incredibly dangerous, but I
00:15:41
Speaker
You know, this really isn't just a single person's problem. You know, we tend to think that you only struggle with lust when you're single and when you get married. You won't struggle with that anymore. You know, we've had this conversation before, you know, with our kids, just kind of preparing them for dating or preparing them for marriage down the road.
00:15:59
Speaker
The reality is that marriage isn't the answer to lust. Self-control is, right? The fruit of the spirit of self-control is the answer. And so, lust or sexual immorality is not just a single person's challenge. It can also seep into a marriage and really be a married couple's.
00:16:19
Speaker
Problem as
Misconception of Marriage as a Cure
00:16:20
Speaker
well. Yeah, and I think that's a really good place to park for just a second because I think that Has been a lie that has been told in some church circles Over the years like get me if you're you know if you're burning with passion You know lust get married and and people think that's going to solve the issue and it's not about that It's about learn growing in holiness and learning self-control like you said
00:16:46
Speaker
Right. Absolutely. Well, I think, you know, a couple of things related to that when we just think about lust within the family. I mean, there are some challenges that every couple is going to face as they get married and as they have a family. And so let's talk just a couple of minutes, like some ways that lust impacts a married couple. One of the things I can think of is that there's going to be different seasons when
00:17:11
Speaker
sexual intimacy is not possible. And I love Edward Shree, who is just a great speaker, great writer, talks about the difference between expression and essence. And he says that sex is an expression of marital love, but it's not the essence of marital love.
00:17:27
Speaker
And I think that's a really, really important distinction. In other words, real love is willing the good of the other. And so I think, again, as we think about lust and how that can impact a married couple, there's going to be difficult seasons where sexual intimacy is not possible. And so, for example, if you're a husband and your wife is going through a season,
00:17:51
Speaker
where she doesn't have the same sexual desires that she had, maybe when you first met or when you first married. It takes a man of God, it takes a person of great virtue and holiness and self-control to be humble in that, to be patient in that, to not be lustful in that, but to will the good of your spouse and to be understanding in that. Sometimes there's tragedy, there's illness, there's some kind of
00:18:17
Speaker
physical disability that didn't exist years ago that now impacts that part. And so if a couple's sex life is the essence of their marital life, that gets all out of balance. Well, and even like moms, when a young mom with lots of kids and literally you feel like
00:18:37
Speaker
I mean, I get it. We have four kids and, you know, I just remember.
Grace and Intimacy in Marriage
00:18:41
Speaker
You don't even want to get out of bed on some mornings, right? Right. Well, and when they were little and, you know, you're pregnant or you're giving birth or, you know, I mean, really, it's just or you're exhausted. You know, I mean, there just has to be grace there and understanding there. And it's that time when we're again, we're we're responsible for ourselves, for the holiness, for the self control, for the learning. And we don't blame that.
00:19:05
Speaker
on our spouse, and I think that's really, really important. Right. Or, you know, you don't justify, you know, something that, I mean, for example, I mean, there are guys who will say, well, my wife doesn't want to have any kind of intimate relations with me right now for whatever reason. She's going through a tough time. She's a new mom. And there will be guys who will justify the use of pornography, or they'll justify beginning to develop an emotional relationship with somebody that's not their wife that will
00:19:33
Speaker
lead to a physical relationship. And so that is a man that is marked by not self-control, not love, not humility, not grace, not the character of Christ, but lust. He's driven and owned by lust. And so I think another area that lust can invade
00:19:50
Speaker
A married couple's life is just in how they interact in relationships outside of their husband-wife relationship. And this is something we've talked about, I know we've written about over the years. It's really important.
Setting Boundaries for Purity
00:20:02
Speaker
And so when you think about just the idea of a husband and a wife, for example, the wife saying, I'm not going to ride in a car with somebody that's not my husband.
00:20:13
Speaker
or a guy who says, I'm not going to meet alone, for example. I'm not going to have lunch with a woman that's not my wife. Those kinds of boundaries with members of the opposite sex, where I'm going to give the enemy an opportunity to get a foothold or to be tempted to give in, those kinds of things. I mean, those are ways that
00:20:32
Speaker
that if we're not walking in purity, if we're not walking in holiness, if we're not empowered by the Holy Spirit and bearing the fruit of self-control, you know, lust can really invade and take over. And so those are just a handful of ways maybe that lust, again, is not just a single person's problem, but it can really
00:20:47
Speaker
wreak havoc in a marriage and in a family. Yeah, and again, this is a culture-wide problem, and just like it was when these words that we keep reading from the Bible were written, I mean, it's just no different. And we shouldn't be surprised at the state we find ourselves in, but I think it's interesting that you were sharing earlier what made the Christian so different
00:21:09
Speaker
during that time was that their sexual lives looked so different.
Overcoming Lust: Practical Steps
00:21:16
Speaker
And I think, oh wow, that's a really powerful reminder for us today. The way they lived, the ethic that they lived sexually really made a difference. It mattered. It probably spoke volumes about their faith.
00:21:29
Speaker
I know we only have a couple minutes left in today's episode, so what are some questions maybe, just some practical ways for us to overcome lust? Again, the flip side of lust, the positive side of lust is men and women that are, again, by God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit are beginning to walk in greater purity.
00:21:49
Speaker
chastity that were marked by self-control and holiness and willing the good of the other person. But let's just talk about a handful, just a couple practical ways to overcome lust. So the vice here, because I've been mentioning this in each episode, I don't know, it just brings clarity. I like to say it. So the vice is lust.
00:22:05
Speaker
And then what would the virtue is self-control? The virtue would be chastity. Oh, chastity. OK. So I know just because we've used self-control purity and chastity all of those words. We're throwing a lot of words around. So I wanted to just bring clarity to that, that the vice is lust and the virtue is chastity. And obviously self-control has a huge deal to do with that. So here's some questions, I think.
00:22:29
Speaker
in this area that you can ask yourself to just be real and get to the heart
Self-Reflection and Repentance
00:22:35
Speaker
of the issue. Because again, we're talking about these seven deadly sins so that we can be clothed in the hope, the other side of that, right? So we don't, we want to be clothed in chastity, not lust. And so it starts with being honest with where we're at.
00:22:50
Speaker
Yeah, and I think, you know, again, just before we hit a couple of these is that in this Lenten season, what we're doing each week is we're paying special attention to each of these seven deadly sins and then the positive, you know, the virtue. And so the vice, like you said, is lost, but the virtue is chastity or purity.
00:23:07
Speaker
And so especially this week as we're marching towards Easter is really paying close attention to this deadly sin of lust or sexual immorality, this disordered desire for sexual pleasure outside of God's original intent and desire. Yeah. So will you read those questions, honey, as we close up?
00:23:27
Speaker
So here's the first one. Where am I most tempted in this area? So this week, again, is we're just preparing for Easter to ask ourselves that question prayerfully, just ask the Holy Spirit to come and to make it obvious to us. Are there particular areas where I'm most tempted? Is it somebody at work? Is it the internet? Is it in my entertainment? But where am I most tempted in this area? The second question, are there situations, hobbies,
00:23:51
Speaker
habits or relationships I need to flee from. And so what am I engaged in right now, either relationally, again, in entertainment, maybe a hobby or a situation, a circumstance that I just need to get out of, that I don't need to try to fight because I don't have the power to overcome it. I just need to get out of there by God's grace. Here's a third question. How is a disordered desire in my life using someone else? And so as we just think about that lust that resides in each of our hearts,
00:24:21
Speaker
Just ask the Holy Spirit to make it really, really clear how that disordered desire is not just bringing you pleasure, and it's a fleeting pleasure, but ultimately how is that misusing somebody else, dishonoring them as an image bearer of God? Just ask God to make that really, really clear to you.
00:24:38
Speaker
And then lastly, where do I need to repent of allowing disorder desires to rule me? And so again, the idea of confession during this time of Lent just got where, where do I need to repent? Where do I need to turn from sin and to turn to you as my savior? God, I need your help. And so give me grace. I don't have my, I don't have power within myself. I need your power. I need your grace to help me overcome this area of my life.
00:25:02
Speaker
And because again, I want what you want for
Seeking God's Grace During Lent
00:25:05
Speaker
me, God, and that's life. That's goodness. That's things that are true and right. I want to be in a much better place by your grace to love you, God, more deeply and to love others more fruit. I want to give the best of who I am to other people, not use them, not see them as objects for my own gratification. And so God, would you just forgive me in those areas and I need your grace.
00:25:25
Speaker
hmm that's such a great place to end and just asking the Lord to clothe us in chastity that's so so good and we'll make sure that we have all of those questions that Pat just shared in the show notes so that you can go back and look at them also all the scriptures that we shared as well
00:25:43
Speaker
Well, we are so grateful that you've joined us today. I hope you're already enjoying this new series, Making Art. And as we mentioned multiple times, we will link all of the things that we mentioned in these episodes. Make sure you go back and listen to the first two episodes. They were so, so good. But yeah, we're so grateful you've joined us. If we haven't met yet, we want to get to know you. So be sure to follow us on Instagram, at Patrick W. Schwank.
00:26:09
Speaker
and at Ruth Schwank or on Facebook. And as I keep saying, don't forget everything we talked about will be at rootlikefaith.com forward slash podcast. All right, friend. Well, we will chat soon and we hope you have the best week.