Freedom from Porn Means Reducing Its Availability
. . .
Take Radical Steps to Restrict Access to Porn
“If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out.”
Matthew 5:29
Matthew 5:29
You might say that the information highway has a lot of street walkers.
The advent of the internet has not only proliferated pornography, it has made it incredibly easy to access. At every moment it is just a click away.
In ages past pornography wasn’t quite so accessible. It typically meant going to a notorious store, walking to the back, picking up a magazine, and then having the bravery of going through the checkout process with the stares and judgments of all who may be present.
Not so today. While technology is grand, one of its pitfalls is that it has put pornography right in our pockets.
For this reason, breaking with pornography means reducing its availability. As you throttle accessibility you can choke the amount of temptation you experience, diminish the frequency of the sin, and gain a good deal of victory in your life.
In the olden days, reducing availability meant throwing out the magazines, cancelling subscriptions, and making sure that you took a different route home so that you didn’t walk past that notorious store.
In the digital age, you have to be even more vigilant.
What did Jesus mean when he said that we must “gouge out your eye.” He was talking about being extremist when it comes to stopping the cycle of sin. You are to take radical, life altering steps to change your patterns of life and make falling into temptation more difficult.
A more modern application might read, “If your phone causes you to sin, turn it off and throw it away. It is better to miss that text and not be connected than for you to be thrown into hell.”
So the first thing you need to ask yourself is whether or not you really need a smart phone. You can likely get along with an old fashioned "dumb phone." Options for smart style phones that only have talk and text are available too. Such things make for a very low tide when it comes to web surfing and somehow drifting into those “hazardous seas.”
You may feel like getting a phone with just text and talk is a little extreme given our digital age, but Christ requires you to be extreme when it comes to your relationship with Him.
Granted, some people need to be connected. Throwing out all devices may not be a legitimate option for because your occupation requires you to be connected to the internet.
If that's the case, you'll need to think bare bones. You can limit your connections and ensure that there is intentionality in your internet use.
One step is to jettison the social media apps. If you need to use them, use them on your computer at the library or coffee house. Strip the phone down to the bare necessities and don't carry the types of apps that will lead you into temptation.
Another avenue to pursue is simply parting with the device in times when it isn't needing to be used. I appreciate the tenacity of one young man I counseled. He gouged out his laptop.
During the day he would study at the local cafe with the public eye providing a hedge. Then, before dinner, he would drop his laptop off at his accountability partner’s house. That provided a significant solution for accessing illicit things during the evening hours he was home by himself. (It also enabled him to read more and concentrate better on other items requiring his attention.)
Sure it was a pain making a trip to drop it off then another one in the morning to pick it up. But the time was a righteous investment that saved him from a lot of temptation. The extreme act helped to create good habits, safety, and a God honoring evening.
Think also about third party software. Companies, like Covenant Eyes, can also help erect internet fences and filters which help restrict your access and provide accountability. Some companies, like Open DNS, even provide free services which tap right into your home Wi-Fi router (rather than on ones’ device).
Don't think you need to invest in that software? Think it is too easy to bypass it and gain access? Think of it this way: it's better to have to jump through the hoops and put as much distance between you and the temptation. It may not be fool proof, but at least it is something. Some restriction is better than none.
But you are right in one sense: software can only do so much. It can often be turned off or highjacked with relative ease by many. This is where the eye may need to be gouged out.
If software isn’t doing the trick, a more drastic measure needs to be taken. You may need to leave the gadgets at the office and have people reach you at home by means of one of those nifty wall phones with the curly wire.
Of course, reducing access may mean implementing a different kind of life structure as well. You will be less likely to access pornography if you are using your time to hang out with friends, attend the church’s prayer meeting, or replace that time of temptation with a solid work out routine at the gym.
These are only a few examples of how you can restrict your access. You may need to take some time to brainstorm with your spouse, friends, and spiritual leaders different things that might suit your particular situation. Examine when you typically use pornography and how you access it. Then create a list of what you can specifically do to address your particular patterns of sin.
Remember, the goal is to put pornography a little further out of your reach. You want to make access much more difficult.
It is just like what you would do for a man who is a perpetual drunk. Instead of walking home from work past the local bar, he should take the long way home or grab a ride from a upstanding buddy. The goal is to get more distance between you and the temptation. It's about taking radical steps to amputate the sin and the occasions for sin.
The intentional road blocks you set up can then diminish the number of times you fall into the temptation. And that can be a huge victory in the greater war you are fighting.
The advent of the internet has not only proliferated pornography, it has made it incredibly easy to access. At every moment it is just a click away.
In ages past pornography wasn’t quite so accessible. It typically meant going to a notorious store, walking to the back, picking up a magazine, and then having the bravery of going through the checkout process with the stares and judgments of all who may be present.
Not so today. While technology is grand, one of its pitfalls is that it has put pornography right in our pockets.
For this reason, breaking with pornography means reducing its availability. As you throttle accessibility you can choke the amount of temptation you experience, diminish the frequency of the sin, and gain a good deal of victory in your life.
In the olden days, reducing availability meant throwing out the magazines, cancelling subscriptions, and making sure that you took a different route home so that you didn’t walk past that notorious store.
In the digital age, you have to be even more vigilant.
What did Jesus mean when he said that we must “gouge out your eye.” He was talking about being extremist when it comes to stopping the cycle of sin. You are to take radical, life altering steps to change your patterns of life and make falling into temptation more difficult.
A more modern application might read, “If your phone causes you to sin, turn it off and throw it away. It is better to miss that text and not be connected than for you to be thrown into hell.”
So the first thing you need to ask yourself is whether or not you really need a smart phone. You can likely get along with an old fashioned "dumb phone." Options for smart style phones that only have talk and text are available too. Such things make for a very low tide when it comes to web surfing and somehow drifting into those “hazardous seas.”
You may feel like getting a phone with just text and talk is a little extreme given our digital age, but Christ requires you to be extreme when it comes to your relationship with Him.
Granted, some people need to be connected. Throwing out all devices may not be a legitimate option for because your occupation requires you to be connected to the internet.
If that's the case, you'll need to think bare bones. You can limit your connections and ensure that there is intentionality in your internet use.
One step is to jettison the social media apps. If you need to use them, use them on your computer at the library or coffee house. Strip the phone down to the bare necessities and don't carry the types of apps that will lead you into temptation.
Another avenue to pursue is simply parting with the device in times when it isn't needing to be used. I appreciate the tenacity of one young man I counseled. He gouged out his laptop.
During the day he would study at the local cafe with the public eye providing a hedge. Then, before dinner, he would drop his laptop off at his accountability partner’s house. That provided a significant solution for accessing illicit things during the evening hours he was home by himself. (It also enabled him to read more and concentrate better on other items requiring his attention.)
Sure it was a pain making a trip to drop it off then another one in the morning to pick it up. But the time was a righteous investment that saved him from a lot of temptation. The extreme act helped to create good habits, safety, and a God honoring evening.
Think also about third party software. Companies, like Covenant Eyes, can also help erect internet fences and filters which help restrict your access and provide accountability. Some companies, like Open DNS, even provide free services which tap right into your home Wi-Fi router (rather than on ones’ device).
Don't think you need to invest in that software? Think it is too easy to bypass it and gain access? Think of it this way: it's better to have to jump through the hoops and put as much distance between you and the temptation. It may not be fool proof, but at least it is something. Some restriction is better than none.
But you are right in one sense: software can only do so much. It can often be turned off or highjacked with relative ease by many. This is where the eye may need to be gouged out.
If software isn’t doing the trick, a more drastic measure needs to be taken. You may need to leave the gadgets at the office and have people reach you at home by means of one of those nifty wall phones with the curly wire.
Of course, reducing access may mean implementing a different kind of life structure as well. You will be less likely to access pornography if you are using your time to hang out with friends, attend the church’s prayer meeting, or replace that time of temptation with a solid work out routine at the gym.
These are only a few examples of how you can restrict your access. You may need to take some time to brainstorm with your spouse, friends, and spiritual leaders different things that might suit your particular situation. Examine when you typically use pornography and how you access it. Then create a list of what you can specifically do to address your particular patterns of sin.
Remember, the goal is to put pornography a little further out of your reach. You want to make access much more difficult.
It is just like what you would do for a man who is a perpetual drunk. Instead of walking home from work past the local bar, he should take the long way home or grab a ride from a upstanding buddy. The goal is to get more distance between you and the temptation. It's about taking radical steps to amputate the sin and the occasions for sin.
The intentional road blocks you set up can then diminish the number of times you fall into the temptation. And that can be a huge victory in the greater war you are fighting.