7 Deadly Sins - Lust
Genesis
1:26-28
In addressing “Lust” as one of the
Seven Deadly Sins, I want to start by drawing a strong distinction between
sexuality/sensuality and lust. They are
not the same thing. Too often, with
disastrous results, we have confused God’s beautiful gift of sexuality with the
devil’s weapons. Lust is wrong; lust is
abusive and lust is exploitative. Lust is
a sin, a deadly sin. Lust is evil
precisely because it takes a part of God’s beautiful creation and turns it into
an object or an opportunity for self-gratification.
The disastrous results of confusing
God’s beautiful gift with the devil’s weapons include a lowering of our
appreciation for the opportunity to expose ourselves to another and be affirmed
by them. The disastrous results include
forsaking the invitation from God to leave behind our loneliness and join
ourselves to another. The disastrous
results include a sense of shame which makes it difficult for us to speak of
the joy and comfort of another’s companionship.
Among the seven deadly sins, lust
has surely proven to be extremely deadly.
Lust is even more prevalent than harassment which is even more prevalent
than assault. But the numbers associated
with assault are staggering and shameful.
How can a “Christian nation” tolerate such rampant abuse? And why would we respond with a wink and a
nod to any mention of demeaning one of God’s own beloved daughters or sons to
the status of our plaything?
Lust, and a prevalence of sexual
exploitation is a deadly reality in the world and in our culture in particular. And in far too many instances it has robbed
us of something which God proclaimed “good” in the opening verses of Genesis.
“Lust” is unchecked desire. It is an intense, unbridled yearning for an
object which has caught our eye or our attention. “Lust” immediately strips the
object of that desire of any of its God-given worth and becomes for the one
lusting a trinket or trophy. Lust is a
deadly sin.
Deadly also are the ramifications
for those who become the object of another’s lust. Heartbreak, life-disruptions, permanent
scaring of body as well as psyche – these are the residual effects of being
reduced to the object of another’s lust.
Lust is deadly and must be eradicated
from the lives of God’s children and the church which bears Jesus’ name. We must do this. And we can do this in a way which does not confuse
lust with God’s good gift of sexuality and sensuality. Separating the two will embolden our resolve
to celebrate the one and totally forbid the other.
It has been far too long since I
read C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. In that collection, an elder devil offers advice
to his younger apprentice. Repeatedly,
the advice is to get the subject thinking about something which will distract
the subject from that which is more important.
There are far too many indications that we have allowed this to happen
with regard to sex and sexuality. We
have been distracted into thinking that the deadly sin is simply about what we
do with our bodies. We get caught up in
this action or that behavior – failing to hear God’s Word and understand the
connection between our physical interactions and the way in which those give
shape to our spirit. It is absolutely
impossible to exploit or abuse someone whom you respect. There is no opportunity for lust when there
is an appreciation of the other as one of God’s beloved children.
Before I close, I do want to
acknowledge that unbridled desire is expressed toward other things as
well. Money, power – these too become
objects of our lust. Once again, by
relegating lust simply to sex we can ignore the other expressions of this sin
in our lives. Might this just be one
more of the devil’s ways of making sure the main thing is no longer the main
thing?
Lust, regardless of the object,
quickly makes us little more than a slave of the devil – seeking that which
glitters and sparkles while ignoring things eternal, humble, honest, and
life-giving.
One of the writers referred to lust
as “less serious.” The thought behind such
a designation is that sins against our own flesh are less grievous than
spiritual sins. I wanted to end with
that, perhaps in order to reinforce what I said at the very beginning. We have allowed lust to confuse our
appreciation of the gifts of God. And we
have become so fixated on sins of the flesh that we have allowed them more time
in our Sunday Church School classes that weightier matters such as greed, and
envy, and gluttony. These sins give rise
to a culture in which others are seen as stepping stones on my way to the
top. These sins blind us to the ways in
which our actions hurt and harm.
We could tackle the topic from the
other side – lust is only possible when we fail to see the image of God in the
other. Failing to recognize the image of
God permits us to treat the other as if their only purpose is to service me. We
know their purpose is to glorify God.
Amen.
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