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)
