SUNDAY POST – “The Lamp of the Body”
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23
We all know the phrase “you are what eat,” implying that what you put into your body through your mouth materially affects the health of your body. But what about the images that enter your body through your eyes and how that affects your mind, your heart, and even materially again, your body.
What you consume with your eyes matters. It can poison your mind, pollute the heart, and literally rewire your brain.
People who witness traumatic events with only their eyes are often subject to the very real bodily symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Something you witness in an instant can change your outlook or the course of your life forever. Given the choice, most people would pass on these types of encounters.
What about the ones that you choose? What do you choose to consume with your eyes? Do you behold the beauty of creation? The beauty of your children or grandchildren? Of your husband or wife? Beautiful art? Beautiful architecture? Classic literature? These are things given us by God. He wants us to see and appreciate the beauty of the world around us. He designed the very structure of our eyes and the neurological pathways in our brains to enjoy His creation and praise Him for it.
Of course, the enemy of all the things listed above has things he’d like you to gaze upon too: one of the most harmful and ensnaring (and prevalent today) is pornography.
Pornography is not a new problem: The ruins of Pompeii, the Roman city destroyed (and simultaneously preserved) by a volcano in AD 79, revealed a two-story brothel. Found in each room were erotic wall paintings depicting various sexual acts. If we use Cornell Law School’s definition of “erotic or sexual acts designed to cause sexual arousal,” it proves that porn was around even in Biblical times. What’s new is the relative ease and anonymity with which it can be accessed by anyone at any hour.
So, what does the Bible say about porn? A word search for “pornography” in the Bible yields zero results. However, when you break pornography into its root words: porneia and graphe, you’ll have more luck. The Greek word, porniea, appears many times in the New Testament. This term is often translated in English as whoredom, fornication, adultery, or sexual immorality. You might say that porniea is a “catch-all” word for any type of filth or perversion.
Heroin, widely believed to be one of the most addictive substances on the planet, has an addiction rate of around 10%. Why? Because it is not essential to human life. It is a recreational drug, and your brain knows heroin is not necessary for human survival. Contrast that with the addiction rate for pornography, which is around 30%. Why? Because the brain lumps “sex” with eating, sleeping, and other basic functions required to perpetuate the human race. When pornography enters the soul through the eyes, the viewer is already at a disadvantage in a dangerous game with very high stakes. It begins to rewire the brain’s neurological pathways, the ones designed by God to lead us to lasting, covenantal union with another. This new wiring, as one might predict, leads us in the opposite direction.
For simplicity’s sake, I will focus on men. Not to pick on men (because this issue does affect women), but God wired men to be more visual, have greater testosterone, and around twice the sex drive of women (did you know a man’s portion of the hypothalamus related to sex drive is 2.5 times greater than that portion in women?), men are in greater danger here. Jesus singled out men in the sermon on the mount:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” Matthew 5:27-29
Jesus doesn’t mince words.
DOPAMINE – “The Feel-Good Hormone”
When a man views pornography, especially to the point of orgasm, he experiences a dopamine rush. Dopamine is the hormone of desire, anticipation, and pleasure: it activates the brain’s reward center. When you’re doing something pleasurable, your brain releases a large amount of dopamine. You feel good and you seek more of that feeling. You get a dopamine rush when you eat a sugary treat, smoke a cigarette, or use a high-inducing drug; thus the propensity to addiction. Dopamine is also a major player during arousal, sex, and climax.
Note: Dopamine rushes do not stay constant in response to constant stimuli. Eventually, we become normalized to a stimulus and something new or stronger is needed in order to achieve the same Dopamine high. That’s how marijuana becomes a “gateway drug” to “harder drugs.” That’s why porn addicts need, well, “harder” or rather “harder core” porn. If a man watches “vanilla” porn between a consenting man and woman, eventually, that won’t be exciting enough to elicit the dopamine rush or the “arousal” that he seeks. Something a little more risqué is needed. A progression starts to occur, as it always does when dealing with sin.
Unfortunately…that progression leads to such dark underbellies as “rape porn” and “child porn,” two of the most prevalent (and increasing) porn-related searches on the internet. Pause for just a moment to consider what it does to the soul when the eyes consume images of that nature. The darkness enters, and then where does it go? In what form will it come out of man? Will he now desire rough sex? Rape sex? Rape? Studies show that states with the highest porn consumption also have the highest rape statistics. After he views child porn, will he lust after children? The Left is maneuvering to add “Minor Attracted Persons” (MAPs) as a sexual identity appended to LGBTQ+ (under the “+”). The YAP (Youth Attracted Person) flag was debuted on Twitter last month; it had 42K likes before Twitter deleted it (thanks, Elon). Where does this lead? Where does it stop? Satan wants it to lead all the way to hell in this life, and after. Also, Satan never says, “Ok, that’s far enough.”
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 1 Peter 2:11
“Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:15
VASOPRESSIN – “The Attachment Hormone”
God did not design man to be voyeuristic. Man is supposed to “work” to engage with his wife. In that resulting union, following the dopamine rush, a hormone called Vasopressin is released (for women, it is Oxytocin). Vasopressin bonds the man to his wife, making the sex act something that is not only physical, but spiritual and emotional. When a man views pornography, what is the Vasopressin bonding him to? Pixels on a screen? An image of a porn star, an image that most women cannot compete with, that does not dissent, does not say no, and is absolutely disposable?
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” Ephesians 5:25-27
Christ characterized himself as the bridegroom, and the church his bride. He honors her, unites with her, never forsakes her – He loves her. She is not “disposable.” His intent for man and wife is the same. Not for man to run through an endless number of pixelated bodies, watching them subjected to rape enactments and then moving on to the next one (fyi, female porn stars are regularly subjected to tearing, bleeding, and physical brokenness from the type of sex depicted in porn – unfortunately, the message to men watching it is that “your partner can/should handle this.”)
So now that you have the background on Dopamine and Vasopressin, what happens to a marriage when the husband is Dopamine-addicted to bodies on a screen? What happens when he is emotionally bonded via Vasopressin to those same pixelated, perfect, porn-star bodies? Answer: the destruction of a marriage. If kids are involved, the destruction of a family, the most essential unit for civilized society.
I will only touch briefly on the betrayal and devastation experienced by the wife when she discovers her husband’s porn habit (as that’s a whole different blog). The world will tell her, “It’s no big deal! It’s healthy and normal! Men weren’t designed to be monogamous.”
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 1 John 2:16
But that is not how God authored the marriage covenant. That is not how Jesus honors his church. The marriage covenant has been defiled and broken, and it may not survive. Did you know that pornography increases the infidelity rate by 300% and 56% of divorces involve one party having an obsessive interest in porn? Whoever tells you, “it’s healthy and normal” is either deceived or a deceiver. And we all know who deals in lies.
Let’s say that the addicted man is not in a marriage. No wife to worry about, so footloose and fancy-free, right? Well… does he want to have a wife someday? Kids, maybe? Or simply sex with a real woman? All of that is jeopardized when his brain is rewired contrary to God’s perfect design. His porn addiction may destroy his family before he ever gets the chance to start it. His porn addiction may also limit his productivity and potential in life: MRIs show that porn-addicted brains have less gray matter, and dopamine imbalances lead to all manner of physical issues, including depression, trouble sleeping, and mood swings. What he has consumed with his eyes affects his body in even more ways….
Europe, which has been characterized as the porniea “canary in the coal mine”, has an erectile dysfunction rate of around 30%. Have you noticed that Viagra commercials in the US have radically changed in recent years? They don’t seem to be targeting older men so much anymore; instead, “ED” commercials are featuring younger men. So why do virile men, who are supposed to be in their sexual prime, need a little blue pill discreetly delivered to their door? Did you know that erectile dysfunction is on the rise amongst teenage males? If you read my February Sunday Post, you’d know that teenage males experience a 30x boost in testosterone! So why can’t they get aroused enough for sex with a real girl? Could it be that they are emotionally bonded and neurochemically addicted to a porn star?
In his book, “The Porn Myth,” author Matt Fradd tells a heartbreaking tale of a man who became addicted to porn at age 13. He didn’t think much of it – the world told him that pornography was “perfectly normal and healthy.” At age 20, he married a girl that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. By age 22, he had yet to consummate the marriage and was on the verge of divorce. He simply could not get his body to work for a real woman, even a woman that he loves.
Note: It doesn’t have to be this way. Studies show that abstaining from pornography for a matter of months will revert the brain back to pre-addiction dopamine levels. Porn addiction is real and should be treated as such. But if you set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, (Colossians 3:2) then recovery, though difficult, is entirely within reach.
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!” Psalm 119:9-10 ESV
That brings me to my next point: the average age a child is first exposed to porn is 11, and 94% of children will see it by the age of 14. At these ages, their prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain responsible for logic, reasoning and judgment) is undergoing a complete restructuring. Teenagers have been characterized neurochemically as the equivalent of “mentally impaired adults.” Ones that are experiencing a 30x testosterone surge. And now we’re going to let them watch porn?
Okay, okay… if you’re reading this, you’re probably not actually allowing your teen to watch porn. But what if a Comprehensive Sexuality Education instructor at their school encouraged them to do so? (yes, it is documented.) CSE courses point your kid to a variety of online “resources” including GoAskAlice and Scarleteen.com that also view porn favorably. Williamson County Schools previously included “It’s Perfectly Normal” in its sex ed curriculum. The state of California wrote “S.E.X.: The All-You-Need-To-Know Guide to Sexuality to Get You Through Your Teens and Twenties” into the California Healthy Youth Act, their state-prescribed CSE curriculum, before outrage forced them to omit that part. Other CSE curriculums feature “Let’s Talk About it”, which describes pornography as a “fun sugary treat” on the page pictured below (warning: scrolling right reveals graphic content).
Okay, so you’ve opted your kid out of CSE – good for you! But what if they walk into the school library and encounter “gateway pornography” right there on the shelf? It may be hand drawn and a bit cartoony, but it still graphically depicts sex acts with same sex, opposite sex, self-stimulation and sex toys. The written content is often darker and more “hard core”, including rape, incest, sodomy, pedophilia, gang rape, and gender indoctrination. Ask a random student where “those books” are, and they will likely give you the exact location. They can also access this content on their student chromebooks and via the TEL (Tennessee Electronic Library) and GALE Library databases (Learn how here).
Okay, so you’ve opted to home school your kid – good for you! But…they have a smart phone and they’re on social media. Even if your kid doesn’t deliberately access porn or sexualized content, the sexualized content has access to them. And so do the groomers (ahem, “MAPs”) behind the skyrocketing “child porn” internet search statistics.
Okay, so your kid is home schooled or private schooled and you took their phone away – good for you! But …just as a parental public service announcement: you will still need to speak to your kids about porneia, sooner rather than later. Because guess what: they have friends who will inevitably (statistically) be exposed to porn, and those friends have phones with 24/7 access to it. Even young kids love things with shock value to show to their friends. In 2023 and beyond, you will have to talk to your kids about it earlier than you would like, arming them with Biblical wisdom, backed up by science and statistics. Be proactive instead of reactive, because porniea wants your kids as early as possible. Who would you rather get the first word with your son or daughter?
The porn industry, for one, is thrilled about the situation. These days, young new performers show up on set needing no coaching at all. They already know exactly how to perform for the camera, and that dark world is likely all they know of sex.
Sex is meant to be beautiful. God designed sex to unite a man and a woman into “one flesh,” to experience deep spiritual bonding that leads to a family and a meaningful and fulfilling life together.
Porniea is Satan’s ideal.
The eyes are the windows to the soul, not just by what another can see when they gaze into them, but by what can also access the soul through them. Parents, with rampant radical agendas in schools, graphic sexual content in school libraries, easy access to all manner of pornography, social media and smart phones, there may not have been a more difficult time in human history to safeguard the sexual morality of our children. Put a hedge of protection around your young ones, that they not ingest darkness, but only light in goodness and truth and beauty. For your older ones, take time to show them God’s ideal for sex, before they lay eyes on Satan’s version.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23
Additional verses:
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:19-25 ESV
“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.” 1 Corinthians 6:13 ESV
Epilogue:
The following slides from “This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson were omitted from the LIBRARY 101 due to length, however they are worth noting here. While we presented this book for its sections that graphically instruct minors how to engage in oral sex, sodomy, and otherwise, this particular section (multiple pages) was dedicated to refuting the Bible and “equipping” the reader to push back against the Christians. It had special sections titled “How to Argue with Sodom and Gomorrah,” “How to Argue Leviticus” and so on. It concludes one of the sections with: “Personally, if Jesus were alive today, I think he’d be at every Pride march.” It’s probably worthwhile to read how the Bible is being twisted and perverted for our youngest.
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