Paul's Passing Thoughts

Here we go again. I will now have to be tortured for the next several weeks with a constant flow of secular ignorance and Christian cliches. In fact, as the years go by, the verbiage from both is sounding the same: “We shouldn’t judge.” “But for the grace of God, there go I.” “What was he thinking? I guess he wasn’t.” None of that is the point. Tiger Woods is just another innumerable participant in human history who has fallen prey to the big L, lust. First of all, I don’t know if Tiger is saved or not, but if he isn’t; he was, and still is, powerless against the big L. Lust will have such a person for lunch at a time of its choosing, one way or the other. Likewise, Christians who are ignorant of the big L will not fair much better. When Christians are stuck down by lust, it’s because of ignorance or laziness in applying God’s word to their life-there are no exceptions to this fact.

In the Old Testament, we have a historical case study on lust in action. King David had several children in a mixed family situation. He had a son named Absalom and a daughter named Tamar. They had a stepbrother named Amnon. This is a story that every teenager should take note of. It is a documentary produced for them, compliments of the Holy Spirit. Here is how the narrative begins in 2Samuel 13:

1 In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David.

Stop right there. This opening sentence introduces the major players and the major elements of the disaster to follow. The players are Amnon, Absalom,Tamara, and Lust. Here, and throughout, the Holy Spirit refers to Lust as “love,” as an antithetical teaching tool, and for reasons we will see later. Also, the Spirit mentions the fact that Tamar was beautiful. There is a reason for this as well, beauty is a more viable prey for Lust, but also remember that Lust is an equal opportunity destroyerl. Lust is a feeling that talks to us. Right then, the day that Lust made a statement to Amnon, disguised as love, Amnon did not know that he had a choice. Lust was saying the following to Amnon: “Wow, look how beautiful she is!” Then, the feelings become more intense, and Lust spoke further: “And she’s a virgin. How delightful it would be to have her!” Now, as Amnon listens to Lust without preaching back to him with the mind of Christ, the feeling becomes more intense and makes its final close: “Feel how strong I am. You cannot resist. This is a need you have; it must be fulfilled, I will not let you rest till you get what we deserve, what is rightfully ours!” Here is what Amnon didn’t do; he didn’t do what Christ did in the wilderness. In the wilderness temptation, Satan by-passed lust and handled the situation on his own, probably because lust was not a viable ally in regard to Christ. The account is there in Scripture for everyone to observe. Christ answered every temptation spoken to him with the word of God, and we must answer Lust the same way whenever it speaks to us.

Sin makes its appeal to us through the emotions [James 1:14], and is a stalker within us that we must constantly fight against [Genesis 4:7]. What Amnon didn’t know, was the beginning of his downfall. This is what the Spirit is alluding to by calling Amnon’s lust, “love.” Here is how Amnon could have answered and stopped this tragedy dead in its tracks: [Please allow me to use New Testament illustrations] “Um, excuse me, but where did you get that disguise? Love is not a feeling, it is an action. John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that he GAVE his only Son. My feelings for her must only be an exhilaration from her beauty, because I have done no worthy act towards her in thought or deed that warrants the true feelings of love that follow [Philippians 4:9 James 1:25]. However, Lust will rarely stop there: “Ah, very true my friend, but Christ will forgive you. Enjoy this sin for a season, after all, God loves you. Sure, he will be a little disappointed in you, but what can separate you from the love of Christ? Enough already! Forget all of that, and gaze once again on her beauty, and what it would be like to have her!” To which Amnon could have replied: “I don’t think that’s a good idea because of what happened to other saints who bought into that lie. Besides, James said that every act of sin brings about some form of death, that doesn’t sound good to me. Also, Christ suffered on the cross to put your deeds to death through me, not to further give life to what nailed my Lord to the cross.” James said to resist the Devil and he will flee from us. Likewise, when we resist Lust with all the Spiritual weapons at our disposal, Lust will flee as well. God’s wisdom was no less available to Amnon in that day than it is to us.

The documentary continues:

2 Amnon became frustrated to the point of illness on account of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.

Yep. When Lust is in the drivers seat, it begins to reek havoc from the inside out. Lust entices us with “good” feelings, and then beats upon us with ill feelings until we succumb to its demand to partake in death. Physical signs can, and do follow [ Genesis 4:6,7]. But now we must move on and speak to the fact that Lust has a friend among teenagers, peer pressure:

3 Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man. 4 He asked Amnon, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?”  Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s  sister.”

Again, we don’t think the Holy Spirit uses the term “friend” as a matter of fact. In the same discourse, we have Amnon reiterating his “love” for Tamar. It’s barley short of a double-dose of sarcasm. The advice of worldly wisdom will always throw gasoline on the fire of lust. Amnon is now in the third stage of completed sin, and the death that follows. Jonadab hatches a plot to put Amnon in a position to force himself on Tamar. This brings us to the utter insanity of the latter stages of lust. Take note: during the first stage, Amnon would not have dreamed of taking this insane counsel from Jonadab. When lust has brought us to this point, what the world calls insanity has set in. Also, take note: Absalom’s love for his sister and his reputation as a warrior would have been well known. These facts, and Tamar’s impressive argument, illustrate the insanity of  full-blown lust in its latter stages:

12 “Don’t, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me. Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked thing. 13 What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.” 14 But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.

Beside the fact that revenge from Tamar’s brother was certain, here is a paraphrase of Tamar’s plea: “It will ruin me; ‘What about me?’ It will ruin you; ‘You will be a fool in Israel,’ and besides, if you can control your lust for one week, the King will give you to me.” Fat chance. Lust doesn’t wait for anything or anybody, like the food lines with the elderly at the back of the line, and that at your local Baptist pot-luck dinner. Lust does not always conceive in the high drama of life, it can conceive in any realm concerning the milieu of life, but I digress.

We now observe the aftermath and the lessons it teaches:
15 Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”

Now enter Tiger Woods. What was he thinking? Once again, the question is beside the point. He was being controlled by lust and was defenseless against it. Also, one of his mistresses testified that after their first act of adultery, he sent her away because “He prefers to sleep alone.” Uh, not so, that’s called “Amnon Syndrome,” and teenage girls can be sure of this: Every high school boy not filled with the Holy Spirit of God, is possessed by this syndrome, as well as those who are [filled], but ignorant of how to master lust with biblical weapons. Believe it or not, I was in high school once. I knew of a situation where a boy and a girl, who were dating for some time, found themselves alone early in the evening of a coveted Saturday night. After the act took place for the first time, the boy canceled their date, took her home, and went to find his friends. Oh, that I had half a penny for every time that was played out in high schools across this country! Did you hear about Sarah Palins daughter and all of that drama? That boy, that girl, Tiger Woods, Amnon, Tamar, it’s all there folks, it shouldn’t surprise us one bit.

There is no room here for exposition on all of the Spiritual weapons we have to fight lust. But let me give the young girls a hint. On the first date, take note of what movie the young man wants to take you to see.  You see, the Apostle Paul said that we are to “Give no PROVISION to the flesh.” The “flesh” is where sin resides in us and utilizes “lust,” through the emotions, to bring about sin. A “provision,” gives nourishment and strength. In this case, to the flesh. One of the primary goals of  Christian dating should be mutual accountability and to do all things to the glory of God. If he lacks knowledge in Spiritual weaponry and leadership, kick him to the curb, lest you end up like Tamar or Bristol Palin.

There is nothing new here. Tiger Woods will soon be the fool in Israel that Tamar said he would be.

paul