“For by means of a harlot a man is reduced to a crust of bread; and an adultress will prey upon his precious life. ” Proverbs 6:26
In some peoples’ opinions, I have a tendency to be a little on the “intense” side. It’s not so much that I am, I just have trouble concentrating so I often wear a furrowed brow and focused stare. Let me just begin this post by crumpling up all your preconceived notions about me and chucking it safely into the trash can of misnomers because I feel that what I am about to write is legitimate and could be read with the conclusion of, “Yeah, but that’s just Carrie- she’s crazy.”
Two weeks ago I was staring at the widespread issue of immorality in this nation, which has been the driving force behind the trafficking of thousands upon thousands of slaves in the pornography industry as well as the prostitution trade. Rarely do I have the feeling in my gut when I’m in prayer that results in a deep burden, but two weeks ago I was wrenched in my spirit over the men that I know. I highly doubt I know even one man who has not either struggled with, is currently struggling with, or is free but constantly fighting pornography.
Something burns on the inside of me knowing that the men in my life cannot even go to the supermarket without being bombarded by ads and magazines that seduce them with perverse women who beckon them into opening up their eyes to a faulty notion of beauty. ”For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword” (Prov. 5:3-4).
With every shred of my existence, I hate that the men in my life battle constantly with the shame of having looked her way for too long. Even after repentence do many find themselves overcome with feelings of instability and lack of true manhood because they have been fettered by the shame of it all.
I am convinced that men do with their eyes is dynamically related to the strength or weakness of the body of Christ at large (see Matt. 6:22-23). Job said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look intently upon a young woman?” (Job 31:1)
Here’s the crisis. We see these verses, and for many of us they can become so familiar that we forget not only the weight of them, but the conditions in which they are being applied. The crisis lies not merely in the men who have a weakness, but in the women who lift no finger to help them. Women, read carefully. If what goes through your mind when you find the men you know struggling to maintain their righteousness, and your attitude is, “You get your act together and then you can come talk to me”, you have just sealed their fate in an ever growing pile of shame.
Ladies, I’d like to say you’re justified, but as the song goes, you’re “not that innocent.” What you have managed to achieve by telling a guy that he needs to get his act together before he’s even worthy to talk to you, when he is sincerely fighting for his walk with God in the midst of a perverse society, without offering even a shred of prayer to help him, and without making sure the plank has been safely dislodged from your eye, I’d take great care in your attitude. Take note that I am preaching to my own soul here too!
What are we wearing? How do we relate to the men in our life? Do we draw their attention to the Lord or to ourselves? Do we bless them and their fight for righteousness, or do we spend all of our time poking fun at them and rolling our eyes at their “guy-ness”? Do we ever pray for the Lord to put iron in their spirits to resist lust? Do we look at them as brothers, or are they all just a smorgasbord of potential husbands?
I’m making a call to every woman who reads this: let’s fight for our men.
