As my 20s came to an end, I was overcome by stark terror and soul-crushing despair. During the latter half of my young adult years, I dealt with a crippling personal issue, family conflict, being a social outcast at church, financial woes, and disastrous trials in the workplace (when I was blessed to have a job at all-suffice it to say that America is not the "Land of Opportunity" anymore). On the eve of my 30th birthday, I felt like a complete and utter failure.
Despite what my society at large says, life doesn't end at 30. In fact, Christ Himself didn't even START His earthly ministry until He was 30. My favorite historical figure from the Bible, Joseph, was 30 when he came Prime Minister of Egypt, and David, Israel's greatest King (excluding Jesus), didn't even become the ruler of God's chosen people until he was 30. My life, in fact, has already started to turn around for the better. My personal struggle is being resolved, my relationships with my family are being restored, I am in a church that loves and cares for me, my finances have improved significantly, and I now work at two great places where my bosses and coworkers treat me extremely well. So when my birthday finally came, I received kindness from my friends, relatives, fellow church members, and the people whom I work with.
Their kindness is a reminder from Christ that He still wants to use me for His glory. If I have failed at my own personal bucket list (and it's not because I'm being chastised for making a donkey out of myself), then it means that Christ has even better plans for me than I do for myself and doesn't want me to settle.
At any rate, I do have one success. Even though my youth has passed, my Virginity "Streak" has survived. I will still be able to look my future wife in the eye (whoever she is) and tell her that she is my first. I need to stay vigilant, though. My culture has become more sex-obsessed than ever, and now the women are just as aggressive as the men. I still receive "attention" from beautiful young women and I would be lying if I said it wasn't tempting. I know that if a 22-year-old supermodel cornered me in a hotel room and came on to me, she would probably turn me out and make me look stupid to the people I am trying to reach for Christ. I also need to watch out for the "Potiphar's wives" out there; the gorgeous mature women who have years of experience when it comes to turning men out and making them look stupid. So I must continue to set and enforce boundaries and, if necessary, run from these women if the temptation becomes too great. At the same time, I must remember that the most powerful temptation does not come from them, or Satan and his demons, but my own heart. So I must also follow Christ to continue my transformation into a godly man of love, honor, justice, and integrity. If I do, then both myself and my future wife will lead others to Christ with our marriage. Enjoying "Romantic World Peace" and "The Sexual Force Unleashed" will be fun rewards for us, too...
Genesis 41:46 "Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt." (NIV)
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Bane! What You Should Avoid Becoming In Your Quest For Sexual Purity!
One of my favorite movie villains is Bane from "Dark Knight Rises."
In the film, he is reimagined as a terrorist leader dedicated to
punishing the decadent city of Gotham for its sins. In doing so, he
targets its protector, Batman, breaks his back, and drags him to a
foreign prison, where he intends to make him watch the destruction of
his beloved city before he permits him to die.
Bane, played by Tom Hardy in "Dark Knight Rises", was an absolutely terrifying, psychopathic zealot. Make sure that, in your quest for purity, you do not become his spiritual equivalent. Photo (which is used for fair use/commentary only) from Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub at Collider: http://collider.com/tom-hardy-the-dark-knight-rises-interview/
What's very interesting about Christopher Nolan's versions of Bane and Batman is that they are cut from the same cloth. In fact, in Nolan's "Batman" trilogy, they both share common training under Ra's Al Ghul in the League of Shadows. But there is one key difference: Batman understands that the act does not always justify the means, which is why he forsakes the League of Shadows to become Gotham's hero. Bane does not, and becomes a monster that's so ferocious that Ra's Al Ghul himself decides to excommunicate him. So whereas Batman wants to fight Gotham's corruption by fighting crime and cooperating with the police to save the city's citizens, Bane simply wants to blow it into a million pieces. Each character's methods shows what they are really motivated by: selfless devotion to the Greater Good (Batman) or a self-righteous desire to elevate oneself by condemning others (Bane).
I am bringing this up because I have met many church members who say that they are good Christians but are simply "Banes" in disguise. Instead of being sexually pure to lead others to Christ, they do it to make themselves feel superior to others. So when they run into people who have struggled with sexual sin in the past (or who were pure before but have since fallen into temptation), they either ostracize them socially or throw them out of the church entirely. I'm not talking about Christians who simply administer church discipline or who cast out people who refuse to admit wrongdoing and justify sinful behavior. I'm talking about church members who refuse to forgive and restore others who have admitted wrongdoing and are willing to do whatever it takes to make amends.
Let me make myself very clear: doing the right thing for the wrong reason is the wrong thing. If you do this, you turn into the Pharisees, who were basically "The League of Shadows" of the Jewish faith when Christ was alive. In doing this, you can become what Paul was before he was saved: Saul of Tarsus, the "Bane" of the Pharisees who ruthlessly had Christians imprisoned and killed before he was converted on the road to Damascus. Don't become a spiritual "Bane" in your quest for purity. Stay pure to honor God, not yourself!
Matthew 23: 27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (NIV)
Bane, played by Tom Hardy in "Dark Knight Rises", was an absolutely terrifying, psychopathic zealot. Make sure that, in your quest for purity, you do not become his spiritual equivalent. Photo (which is used for fair use/commentary only) from Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub at Collider: http://collider.com/tom-hardy-the-dark-knight-rises-interview/
What's very interesting about Christopher Nolan's versions of Bane and Batman is that they are cut from the same cloth. In fact, in Nolan's "Batman" trilogy, they both share common training under Ra's Al Ghul in the League of Shadows. But there is one key difference: Batman understands that the act does not always justify the means, which is why he forsakes the League of Shadows to become Gotham's hero. Bane does not, and becomes a monster that's so ferocious that Ra's Al Ghul himself decides to excommunicate him. So whereas Batman wants to fight Gotham's corruption by fighting crime and cooperating with the police to save the city's citizens, Bane simply wants to blow it into a million pieces. Each character's methods shows what they are really motivated by: selfless devotion to the Greater Good (Batman) or a self-righteous desire to elevate oneself by condemning others (Bane).
I am bringing this up because I have met many church members who say that they are good Christians but are simply "Banes" in disguise. Instead of being sexually pure to lead others to Christ, they do it to make themselves feel superior to others. So when they run into people who have struggled with sexual sin in the past (or who were pure before but have since fallen into temptation), they either ostracize them socially or throw them out of the church entirely. I'm not talking about Christians who simply administer church discipline or who cast out people who refuse to admit wrongdoing and justify sinful behavior. I'm talking about church members who refuse to forgive and restore others who have admitted wrongdoing and are willing to do whatever it takes to make amends.
Let me make myself very clear: doing the right thing for the wrong reason is the wrong thing. If you do this, you turn into the Pharisees, who were basically "The League of Shadows" of the Jewish faith when Christ was alive. In doing this, you can become what Paul was before he was saved: Saul of Tarsus, the "Bane" of the Pharisees who ruthlessly had Christians imprisoned and killed before he was converted on the road to Damascus. Don't become a spiritual "Bane" in your quest for purity. Stay pure to honor God, not yourself!
Matthew 23: 27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (NIV)
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