The Immorality of the Moral?

The title to this post contains an obvious contradiction, doesn’t it? But how else can we describe a recent survey indicating that 68% of Christian men and 50% of pastors view pornography on a regular basis?We know that we live in an immoral society—one that continues to slide into greater degrees of perversion. But in the church? Really?Obviously, sexual immorality is not a new sin. It’s as old as Genesis. Not long after the fall of mankind into sin, we see almost every form of sexual perversion.Fortunately, at times in America’s past, due to strong spiritual and moral underpinnings provided by our godly ancestors, we largely stood our ground against the onslaught of widespread immorality. In that season, our “church culture” profoundly impacted our “American culture.”But over the course of time, both church and culture have departed from the ways of God. And now our children and future generations are paying the price. It seems as though we have lost our consciences.In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul rebukes the church for the immorality that was reported among some of their members. As part of that rebuke, Paul says, “You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead” (v. 2 NASB).That was their problem, and it is our problem as well. One of the deepest needs of our day is for us in the church to humble ourselves and mourn and grieve over our departure from God’s standards.Unfortunately, the moral problems in our church and nation are so deep and wide, it’s hard to know where to start. Perhaps we need modern-day Joshuas. Recall how he boldly said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).Will you be a Joshua? Just maybe, if we had people like Joshua taking a stand in every church, others would respond like the people did: “The people said to Joshua, ‘We will serve the LORD our God and we will obey His voice’” (v. 24).As you probably know, OneCry has a three-point theme: Turn, Pray, Unite. If we hold out any hope that God will hear us as we pray, then we must first turn.There are undoubtedly many things we need to turn from. But if the survey is right—about 68% of “Christian” men viewing pornography regularly—that is certainly one place where much turning from sin needs to happen!The Lord wants us to approach Him with clean hands and pure hearts. King David said that he would set no unclean thing before his eyes (Psalm 101:3). We cannot have clean hands or pure hearts as long as we are regularly setting unclean things before our eyes.We must repent with mourning and not be arrogant. We must raise up hedges of protection for ourselves and our families.Seemingly insignificant choices we make about the jokes we tell, the movies we watch, the songs we listen to, etc., all affect our hearts and minds. It’s often the little foxes that spoil the whole vineyard; likewise, it’s the little decisions we make that ultimately determine the course of our whole lives.Those called to be “moral” must stop being immoral. We must humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. The only hope for our nation is that we, the church, truly TURN, PRAY, AND UNITE!