Can I do this and still be a Christian?

Can I do this and still be a Christian?

If you go to the link http://www.worldviewtube.com/video.php/1825/ it will take you to a short 3.5 minute video where this minister attempts to answer an interesting question that goes like this. Can I look at pornography and still be a Christian? I viewed this video and found it to be very thought provoking to say the least. I am part of an online ministry called Battle Plan Ministries based out of Tennessee that helps people who are trapped in sexual addiction. Here are some of my thoughts after viewing this short video.
This video reminded me of an article that my friend and founder of Jesus Connect Ministries wrote entitled "Bunny Rabbit Christians". This was a hard hitting article that questioned the motivations for people in general who called themselves Christians but insisted on the path of addictive behavior with porn. Reynold posted it on several of the Usenet Newsgroups that offered binary downloads of pornography. As you can imagine he was bombarded with lots of hateful messages from people who were quick to call him a right wing conservative bible thumping jerk. More importantly though the Holy Spirit used this article to touch the hearts of men and women who were trapped in that world and were desperately wanting a way to get out but did not know how to do it.
Go with me for a moment….
Can I look at porn and still be a Christian?
Can I over eat and still be a Christian?
Can I use curse words occasionally and still be a Christian?
Can I take things from the office that are not mine and still be a Christian?
Can I not tithe and still be a Christian?
Can I lie to the IRS and still be a Christian?
Can I steal cable tv and still be a Christian?
Can I watch R rated movies and still be a Christian?
Can I drink beer or alcohol and still be a Christian?
Can I use pirated software and still be a Christian?

As you can see this list can be quite exhaustive. Just how far can we go with our actions and still be within the permissive will of God? What must you do to be considered a Christian to begin with? The list of questions assumes that you are a Christian already.
I am a parent and I have two children living in my household. One of them is a 14 year old daughter and one is a preteen son at the age of 11. Being a parent I am constantly reminded of the parent child relationship between me and my heavenly father. As my pastor told us in church several sermons ago he likened our relationship with our children as a basketball game. We are the coach and referee and our kids are playing a game called life. There are rules to the game and when the kids break the rules and get out of bounds it is our job as parents, coaches and referee’s to call the foul, instruct them on their infraction and kick them back in bounds so they can start the game again.
As I thought of the question being posed this came to me. When my son does something wrong or is openly rebellious to me or his mother do I no longer love him? Do I reject him and cast him out of the house and remove him from the game permanently? The answer to that is no. I would not do that because my son is my son and no matter what he does I will never stop loving him. I may not approve of his actions and I may find myself in one of the three different roles listed above.
I may have to be a coach that helps to train my child how to play the game of life through teaching of life skills. I may find myself in the role of a referee who has to call the foul and implement some sort of penalty for the action that has been committed or an action that was not performed. I may even find myself in the role of comforter or encourager should the gift of mercy need to come in to play. That is one of the challenges of being a parent. When our children do something wrong we have to ask ourselves several questions. Why did they do what they did? Where were they at when this incident took place? Who were our children associating with? Were our children outside of their normal environment? What were our child or children thinking and what was their motivation for doing this?
Lets go back to what we must do in order to be a Christian according to the bible. The bible says that we must confess that Jesus Christ is LORD and repent of our sins. There are no magical potions. It is very simple to become a Christian. We recognize that we are sinners and that without the GRACE of GOD which was demonstrated by Jesus on the Cross 2000 some odd years ago that we are lost and headed for hell. Jesus paid the penalty of the sins of the world past present and future. We all know John 3:16 that says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whomsoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. “ I have that memorized in the Authorized version (King James) language and I love its interpretation the best. It says that WHOMSOEVER WILL believe shall not perish but have eternal life. Once we repent of our sinful nature and ask God to forgive us of our sin and be the Lord of our life we are enter in to a covenant with God that cannot be broken.
Now that we are a Christian is it possible for me to sin? Does becoming a Christian make me instantly perfect? The answer to the first question is YES it is possible for me to sin. The book of Romans says that “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. The answer to the second question is no, we do not become instantly perfect once we become a Christian. When we become a Christian we are justified before God through the gift of Christ, his blood on the cross. In an instant we are justified but over a life time of living we work through our sanctification. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature: old things are passed away and all things are become new.” To me that describes the process of sanctification. Because of our position in Christ God sees no sin because of the blood that has been applied to our lives which wash us white as snow. Now we come to the struggle that all of us enter into once we become Christians. Our spirit is willing and wants to be obedient to the Father but our flesh is weak and wars with the spirit and wants to do its own thing. I love calling this attitude the Burger King mentality. That mentality says “Have it your way”. When we become Christians we give up the claim to our lives and turn over the reins to the Holy Spirit so that He can control us. We tell Jesus that we want to be subservient to HIS will and not our own. Why do we do that? Is it because we are hopelessly brainwashed in our local congregations? No, we do that because we realize through the Holy Spirit that lives within us that our lives were a wreck before Christ. Can I hear amen to that truth? If you can not admit to it I can.
What is the difference between someone that is a Christian and sin vs a non Christian and sin? Hopefully the Christian is struggling with what sin IS and is not. A Christian has the power of the Holy Spirit that teaches him right from wrong through the power of Gods word. The Christian begins to recognize sin and realizes that this sin separates them from God. I did not say that sin separates a Christian from the LOVE of God, I said that it separates them from his presence. Sin does damage to our relationship with our heavenly father. When we intentionally live in a lifestyle of sin we are living in open disobedience to the father and the bible says that at some point he loves you so much he will chasten you.
Someone that is not a Christian and therefore does not have the power of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct them, will not know what they are doing is sin and they will not be repentant of their actions. They think and believe that what they are doing is ok. If someone is living a lifestyle of sin and they are not being chastened by the Father then they are a child of the devil.

How do we know someone is truly a believer in Christ? We know because we will see the evidence of the fruit of the spirit in the life of the believer. Only God can judge the relationship however we can be fruit inspectors. The bible says that they will know that we are Christians because of our love for one another. So be careful that while you are inspecting the fruit on my tree that you be mindful of the fruit or lack thereof on your own tree. Amen??
Now we come full circle back to the original questions. Can I do this or that and still be a Christian. I think that we need to be careful in categorizing sin. If you want to know what God hates and consider sin you have to pick up his word and read it. To say that lust of the flesh (viewing porn) is more evil than murder or homosexuality reveals how fickle we humans really are. God defines sin in his word and he hates it all. God also has provided us forgiveness of sin and is a merciful and loving God. We also need to realize that while lust of the flesh or viewing porn might be our sin that we struggle with that your brother and sister might be struggling with something that is sin to them but is not sin to us. In other words drinking a beer during supper while out in public is not sin to me when I am with my family. However if I am with someone else outside of my family that struggles with alcoholism (their sin) then I am sinning by drinking because I become a stumbling block to them. Only the Holy Spirit of God can determine what is sin. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, teaches us to bring that sin to the throne room of God and to confess it. The Holy Spirit forgives us of that sin, washes us, regenerates us and sits us back on the right path so we can go forward from that moment to lives according to his will.
If you are like me you do not need for someone to come up to you and say. Hey, did you know that viewing pornography is a sin? We already know in our heart of hearts that what we are doing is sin. We know it is a sin because the Bible tells us this. If we have never picked up the bible we have certainly listened to enough sermons on either tv or in person to know that we are not supposed to be lusting after someone of the opposite sex if we are not married to them. If we know that what we are doing is sin and we continue acting out that sin then we must realize that there will be consequences for our actions. One of those consequences will be our hearts will be heavy and we will not be at peace with God. Remember back to the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned and did what God told them not to do. They ate the fruit off of the tree of knowledge. Before they did this they were at peace with God. After they ate from the tree they realized they were naked and became ashamed and hid from God. There is a saying that goes like this. The bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the bible.
The good news is that we are not left defenseless in this world. We have the power of the Holy Spirit that lives within us to give us the strength to do what is right. The Holy Spirit teaches us what is right and what is wrong. We have the bible which is Gods word that gives us instructions on how HE wants us to live. He has given us many examples of how the saints before us overcame the enemies of this world. God has given us a new purpose and has redeemed us and promises us an eternal home in heaven with him.




James Moffitt
http://www.lightourworld.com
http://moffittjc.blogharbor.com/blog
james.moffitt@comcast.net