Losing Limbs

Matthew 5:27-30

And so Jesus continues on his rant where anybody and everybody is a horrible person... or at least it seems that way. Instead of anger as the root of violence, Jesus now tackles lust as the root of sexual immorality. Its always dangerous when someone writes or talks about sexuality, someone is bound to be offended, either because the subject is deemed altogether immoral to discuss (which is biblically wrong: sex is blessed by God), or because so many of us have been touched by sexuality gone wrong that we live with pervasive guilt. However, it is important to notice that while sexuality gone wild (ya know, like "Girls Gone Wild") is deemed sinful here, it is no more sinful than anger or broken relationships. Certainly its still serious as all sins are, but we tend to over-emphasize the sexual because our society can't move beyond it.

Still, it would be better to live in constant pain and inhibit the ease of your life than live in lust. Its not just the unfaithfulness to partners that is wrong here, it is the root cause, lust, even infatuation and blind idolatry that places another being above all others, blinds you to right and wrong, or puts satisfaction above righteousness. Many of us would be sure to label some kind of sexual activity and thought wrong, but we are not united, and that is dangerous, because sex is by nature, relational. It is also hard to enforce. We say something is wrong, but do we ever take Jesus seriously about preventing sin in the first place. Are we willing to make our lives harder in order to prevent evil thoughts and actions? Are we more concerned about comfort and ease, or righteous living and loving minds? Jesus words cover all of us. The next move is ours. Stop the spread of sin. Its worth it.