Brilliantly gifted American pastor Toby Sumpter offers some wise words here on the addictive and debasing sin of pornography. His insights garnered from the Sermon on the Mount are practical, pastoral and painful.
The pain factor is seen most in his corrective to how we normally apply Jesus words to cut off limbs/pluck out eyes which he says we often quickly dismiss as exaggerations and hyperbole whilst reckoning that Jesus is not actually encouraging self mutilation. To which Sumpter replies: 'Well, perhaps not, but He doesn't mean if your hand causes you to sin, you should try to find an accountability partner. If Jesus urges dismemberment, we ought to be thinking of things that are extreme and painful...'
All of which lead him to ask:
'Where do you live? Who do you live with? Where is your computer? What are the usual patterns to your sin? Now get out your sword and start hacking. Do you need to move? Do you need to find new roommates? Do you need to sleep with your bedroom door open and the light on? Should you get rid of the internet, drop your laptop computer out of the window, or get all your bank statements sent to your mom?'
And what's the point of such a radical lifestyle?
'The point is if Jesus says you should do something extreme, then don't go do something reasonable and tame. You can't go parlay a peace treaty with the devil. If you aren't planning extreme violence against your sin then you have already failed. The first step in battling sin is learning to hate it. And if you aren't ready to slay the dragon, then you aren't really fighting even if you're all dressed up for battle.
Whoooooooa!
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