No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. – 1 Corinthians 10:13
One of the great lies of sin is that because it isn’t explicitly mentioned in the Bible using our modern day terminology, then it isn’t wrong. This is a lie not because there is some sin not mentioned in the Bible, but because if you begin to reason this way, you’ve already been tricked. All sin today is mentioned explicitly in the Bible, in the exact way you’re struggling with it. There is nothing that has escaped the words of God. This type of trickery began in the beginning with the serpent and the first temptation:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” – Genesis 3:1
The serpent asks a lie. And Eve corrects him, but she has already been tricked by this line of reasoning:
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” – Genesis 3:2-3
When did God say that touching the fruit will kill her? God never said this. By Eve meeting the serpent half way and introducing something new to God’s law, she had already lost the battle and later quickly believes the serpent’s outright lie and goes all the way, eating the fruit.
What does all this have to do with pornography and the Prodigal Son? Christians frequently meet pornography half way, reasoning the same way as Eve. If you are trying to justify it in any way, you’ve already lost. There is no justification for pornography except death, the penalty of sin. This isn’t a matter of whether or not some mediums of pornography are “okay” to consume, this is a matter of the same sin that Adam and Eve committed: the sin of pride. The Prodigal Son is one of the greatest examples in scripture showcasing the true nature of pornography, and provides the only solution. Let’s explore this connection.
The Prodigal Son
Jesus said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.
Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.
So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.”
– Luke 15:11-16
Pay attention to the beginning. The younger son demands his inheritance before it’s owed to him. His father is dead to him and he wants everything that’s coming his way now.
There’s nothing wrong with receiving your inheritance. Likewise, the problem with pornography isn’t about what is being consumed by the eyes. This is because we all see pornography in our daily lives whether we want to or not through over sexualization in advertisements, entertainment, and media. The real problem with pornography is what we take by force.
It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth. – Matthew 15:11
From the beginning of the Prodigal Son’s story, we can see immediately that:
1. Pornography tempts us to take sexual fulfillment, that we believe is owed to us, by force
The promise of lust is that we are our own masters, and can take our sexual fulfillment whenever we please. Pornography is simply one medium among many that this can be done with. Others do the same thing, such as prostitution, rape, fantasizing, coveting, and stealing. The prodigal son believed that he was owed his inheritance on his own terms.
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and the violent take it by force. – Matthew 11:12
2. Pornography puts to death the one who lawfully decides what sexual activity we should partake in
The only way for the prodigal son to morally receive his inheritance was to wait for his father to die. But he shows deep hatred for his father, and has killed him in his heart to such a degree that he believes he can receive his inheritance now. With pornography, we have to shut someone out in order to fulfill our lustful desires. This ultimately ends up being God, who ordained that sexual activity should exist within marriage and with respect to your spouse. You also have to put your spouse to death if you’re already married, because you are dissatisfied that your spouse doesn’t exist to fulfill your every sexual whim.
If you want to fulfill your sexual desires whenever you want, you have to put Jesus to death on the cross in order to do it. The Prodigal Son wanted his inheritance on his own terms, and had to put his father to death in his heart to do it.
To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. – Hebrews 6:6
3. Pornography enslaves us to sin
We can see that by the end, the Prodigal Son lost everything. He believed that he was in charge of his own life, and could do whatever he wanted forever. But eventually, our sin finds us out. The famine was no coincidence, and God often waits for our “inheritance” to run out before stepping in to show us how far we’ve fallen. With pornography, it will provide everything you need in the moment, but a famine is coming and you will be left with nothing. It will destroy your relationships and your life, and you will be left wishing you could eat the pigs’ feed. You will be alone in a foreign land, empty.
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” – John 8:34
But God
But when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!
I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.'”
– Luke 15:17-18
This is the part of the story where we find the solution. Most commonly, the takeaway from this story is that the son realized that he was treated better at home, that he shouldn’t have taken his inheritance early, and that he gained humility and apologized to his father. But really, there’s only one takeaway that matters: The Prodigal Son gained salvation. Jesus’ story doesn’t have any spiritual connotations until this point, which really matters: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.” The father affirms this spiritual aspect upon his son’s return:
“For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” – Luke 15:24
As the son put his father to death in his heart, so the son also died because of his own sin. But his repentance and salvation brought him to life and he returned to his father. This is the solution to pornography: you must die to this sin and beg for forgiveness from God, who you put to death on the cross. Do not take sexual fulfillment on your own terms, but God’s terms. Wait for your inheritance.
Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
– Psalms 37:1-4
Dave Aldon 