You, your fantasies, and the ranking of sin
Pedophilia is sin, and because it targets the innocent, it seems a particularly egregious sin. If, however, we are to rank sins, that sin must fall far below the sin of abortion which takes the lives of the innocents, provides a blood sacrifice for the devil, and maintains evil politicians in office. Ranking sin is a temptation, but we must remember that we are born in sin, we are condemned already, and stealing a cookie from the cookie jar is enough to send us to a Devil’s Hell. We need Jesus!
You may neither be a pedophile nor an abortionist, but if you are human, you have fought against sexual fantasies. Yes, yes you have!
If you are a Christian man, you very well may have been led to believe that you are the only man in your church who is fighting that battle. The truth is, if you do not have such a fight, you are either the recipient of a very great miracle, or you have somehow been neutered somewhere in life. Men, in your church, from the preacher to the janitor, have these battles. As Christians we have learned to avoid outward, obvious sins and settle for the private, hidden kind. You do know what I am talking about… yes, yes you do!
Years ago, in First Baptist Church, in Jacksonville, Florida, the pastor called two men to the front one Sunday morning. Explaining that he had obtained their permission to do so, he began to share their stories. Both were Deacons in the church. Both had been “Fall down drunks” when they were saved. Both had been sober for more than twenty years. One, the day he was saved, had been delivered from all desire for alcohol. The other still fought temptation every day, driving a longer route home from work in order to avoid driving by the bar he had once haunted. The pastor then asked the congregation, “Which one of these men do you think God loves more?”
That question may be applied to any sin, including sexual fantasies. If you have been delivered and your brother has not, does that really mean that God loves you more? Neither of you are acting out any sexual sin, we are speaking of private, silent, unspoken fantasies. The truth is that if you are fighting, praying, and resisting the temptation to act out your fantasy, that, is all you can do. Like the deacon who drove an extra five miles every day to avoid temptation, there are situations you should avoid, but never believe that God does not love you.
As to the ranking of sin, which is a part of my rant today, I will speak to that. Generally speaking, people rank sin in order to justify themselves or to make themselves feel better about themselves. For example, one man might say, “I may beat my wife, but at least I don’t cheat on her.” His neighbor may be saying, “I may cheat on my wife, but at least I don’t beat her.”
When I was growing up, homosexuality was the worst sin anyone could commit. Then, in recent years, there has been a great push to normalize same sex relationships. In order to do that, a great public campaign was started with the idea that by accenting pedophilia and demonizing pedophiles, we could pull negative attention from homosexuality and place it elsewhere. By making pedophiles the object of public scorn, we take that attention away from homosexuality and allow it to be normalized in society. Now, a person may say, “At least I’m not a pedophile!”
Now that homosexuality has not only been normalized but enshrined in Federal Law, there is a visible, obvious campaign being launched to “normalize” pedophilia. First, we normalize those who are sexually attracted to children but do not act on it… “At least they don’t hurt children!” But this rapid descent has only one end, the total destruction of the nation.
- “I may think about it, but I would never do it!”
- “I may be homosexual, but I’m not a pedophile!”
- “I may be a pedophile, but at least I’m not homosexual.”
- “I may hurt children, but I’m not a murderer.”
- “I may be a murderer, but at least I don’t hurt children!”
- “I may be a thief, but I never rob poor people!”
- “I may not tithe, but at least I give an offering!”
- “I may gossip, but it isn’t malicious!”
Let us stop ranking sin and repent of the sins we commit. We need a Savior as much as the worst sinner in the whole neighborhood!!!
Now that I have made a lot of enemies among those who are holier than I, I will stop my rant!
David…