It often grieves my heart when I read the news, especially the items regarding affairs and marriages. There are many times I want to yell at the people involved, try to wake them up and find a way to pour common sense into them. On reading a particular story this morning, it occurred to me that many adulterers prefer to view what they are doing as a preference rather than as any kind of sin or wrong doing. The story was not about cheaters specifically, but it hit me that the issue at the heart of the matter is bad theology or perhaps a theology of ‘badness.’ Cheaters want their own version of God. They want one that emphasizes happiness over decency. Rather than one that wants them to lead decent, respectable lives which means some self-denial.
Cheaters want to see their actions as poor choices, rather than wrong choices that have consequences. Cheaters want to live in a world where they can indulge without consequence. A world where all sexual behaviors are just a matter of choices, without any repercussions or consequences. It is as if they believe in a heaven where God is a Hugh Hefner type figure that allows and encourages them to indulge in ‘whatever makes you happy.’
I know that I addressed theology yesterday, and today, here is a prime example. When the cheater views God and heaven as Hugh Hefner and the Playboy mansion where they can indulge, their theology is messed up. The reality is that laws and customs regarding marital faithfulness have a reason for being there. One of those reasons is protection. Another is a clear conscience. Another is to raise good children. The Playboy theology often ignores consequences like venereal diseases, life-threatening sexually transmitted diseases, the breakdown in families, and the shattered lives that often accompany self-indulgence. They do not realize that limits placed on their behavior often protect them from greater dangers. They view a God who says ‘NO’ as being mean, and unloving rather than realizing that that warning is more like a ‘danger bridge out ahead’ warning.
If sexually oriented products also showed the cankerous and diseased outcome of self-indulgence along with the statistics on how it shortens lives, it would be more ‘truth in advertising’ than the portrayal of wanton nymphos who are all wanting them, with the promise of bliss, passion and excitement.
Honesty is almost as rare as common sense these days.
Best Regards,
Jeff Murrah
