LiveDifferent Challenge (40): No More Porn!

Did the title get your attention?  This’ll be another chance for my spam-filter to work overtime.  I feel like I’m all backed up in my blogging–I have so many things stirring in my heart and mind, and yet somehow this time is so incredibly busy and hectic there is no time in the day and I collapse into bed at night and fall asleep.  It might have something to do with the fact that we are trying to sell two houses, one of which is now vacant which means trips there to clean/maintain/stage for showings,  living in a third house (not ours) that’s for sale, so showing it and having it ready, plus getting ready to have a baby any time now (!), corralling my toddler, keeping up with the innumerable (but wonderful!!) church events, teaching at High School group this week, and gearing up to start my internship this week.  Hm…  Sorry, just needed to get all that out. I feel better now.

But back to porn.  Right now at church we’re studying through the book of Colossians and it has been the most powerful series ever.  What I love is that each week we are confronted again with the wonder of the GOSPEL, every week I find myself weeping at our beautiful Jesus, every week I am contronted with the seriousness of my sin and how great a debt has been paid by my Savior.  Today Pastor Joel talked about empty philosophies (Col. 2) and how we tend to take the world’s “philosophies” or systems and ways of thinking, and mix them in with our Christianity.  He used several examples, but the one that stood out to me was consumerism.  Is consumerism and materialism a philosophy? Well, it’s certainly a way of life, a mindset, that drives our world. 

He introduced to us the idea of Consumerist Porn, and how it warps our minds.  It’s a strong term, but I think so accurately describes what so many of us do.  Consider the magazine industry.  How many of us have Pottery Barn catalogs?  Crate & Barrell?  Do we sit and flip through these magazines, fantasizing about things that we don’t have, in essence lusting after things we think will make our lives better?  What is it for you?  Joel talked about travel magazines, golf magazines.  What about Victoria’s Secret catalogs or whatever it may be.  What do we spend our “mindless” time doing?  And is it, in a way, unhealthy fantasizing about material things?

I realized lately that without my even meaning to, God had weeded my life from some of this.  As I was organizing our file cabinet, I found a manila folder with “House Ideas” on the tab.  Inside were torn out pages from–you guessed it–Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrell, Restoration Hardware.  The pictures were nice, I guess, but for some reason it seemed kind of silly.  Why would I purposely keep pictures of things I don’t need? Just in case I forgot?  Praise God I forgot!  Long long ago I quit getting Victoria’s Secret or any clothing catalogs of any kind.  Why?  Because I don’t know I “need” new clothes until I see them adorning some 6’2″ 105lb. retouched model.  Then I realize I need them! 🙂  And I am absolutely content with my body until I take a good look at that 6’2″ 105lb. model and then I realize how wide my hips are.  Fantasy? Perhaps. Lust? Maybe.  Unnecessary for my spiritual growth and Christlikeness?  Absolutely.

But this doesn’t just happen with magazines.  I was convicted as I listened because of…the house.  Yes, there is a house right by our church, that I have to drive by (oh darn) each time I go to church on Sundays.  It is a bank-owned Repo … and yes, it is gorgeous. It is beyond gorgeous in my opinion, and as I saw pictures online, I realized it has every detail that I love in a home–size, style, walking distance to church, elementary school, middle school, park, grocery store.  And, if we sold our homes and got a good deal, within our price range. I saved the ad for it on my web browser favorites, and for the first few days would go and look at it, again…just to see.  And no, of course there is nothing wrong with having an eye out for a house in the very location we hope to move, but it is a fine line between searching for a home, and lusting after the house of my dreams.   So with outstretched arms today I asked God to take my fantasizing about the house I love, and give me a surrendered heart consumed with a vision of Him–the One I love.

So I know the term Consumerist Pornography is pretty strong, but I like it. I like it because it refuses to let us call covetousness by a nice neat name that makes us not feel bad.   God gives us good gifts.  He is a loving Father. He may very well bless us with a beautiful home or a tropical vacation or what have you.  But perhaps too often we are guilty of letting ourselves buy the lie of this world, “If only I had that…”

Give us faithful eyes, Lord. Free from lust and fantasy. Pure hearts, pure motives, content with what we have.  Rid our lives of consumerist pornography and give us eyes for You alone. In Jesus’ name.