Don't Look! (You Can't Unsee...)

From The Vine

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me,
and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:
for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5

Don't Look!
(You Can't Unsee….)
Lloyd Purswell

What you see you cannot unsee…What you hear you can't unhear…What you say cannot be unsaid…What you do can never be undone…

In case there's any doubt in your mind concerning the above statements, I hope to bring two points home using the following intensely pungent scenario. Point number one, once you see something…in this case you will read a factual description designed to paint a vivid portrait in one's mind…you cannot unsee. Point number two, the fact that I chose to pen these rather gory words, which will be read by thousands of people should be an adequate illustration that once you do something it can't be undone.

Tempers flair, a man grabs a high powered weapon, listen to the metallic ratchet sound as he slams a round into the chamber. In a fraction of a second the scene goes to slow motion. Can you see his finger as it squeezes the chrome plated trigger? The night air is split by a tremendous explosion, and the gun barrel bucks with the violent recoil. A heavy projectile spins at 3,000 feet per second toward it's mark. Impact with the victim's skull makes a sickening thud. As the bullet continues it's furious journey, the combination of speed and contact with water laden brain tissue causes it to expand to 3/4 of an inch in diameter. It exists tearing a 3" hole in the cranium. Most of the brain mass is evacuated and strewn on the floor before the body comes to rest, lifeless…partly on the floor, and partly against a nearby couch…A senseless act of truly barbaric proportions. The shooter begs God to make it stop as his mind and body comes back into control. The bullet left the gun barrel mercilessly carrying out it's task. No amount of weeping; tragic and pitiful though it may be, will cause it to return. The victim's heart will never beat again. His unique persona, all the things that this individual was capable of contributing to his family, to society has utterly, completely, without a doubt, ceased to exist. It is done…it can never, never be undone.

I Peter 5:8 "be sober be vigilant, for your adversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour."

Now, let me relate a very different story. Satan's weapon or choice wasn't a gun, but the devastation was perhaps far more extensive. This man was not a drug crazed maniac. In fact, he was well respected in several states for his work as an insightful pastor, motivator, author, and evangelist and of course, a cherished husband and father. He had a vision that reached far beyond the pristine walls of the spacious and well appointed church building that he and so many others had labored hours and years to build. There was the ministry for those addicted to drugs, for the unwed mothers and mothers to be, not to mention the mission that provided food and shelter for the homeless…This man had long ago lost count of all the early morning calls he responded to. One of his flock had sustained a tragedy in the family or some wounded and undone soul was crying for help.

The church building, an immaculately landscaped memorial to countless prayers, years of work, sweat and sleepless nights now stood empty and silent. The once well-directed and single-minded sheep were now confused and scattered. Their revered shepherd sat alone and befuddled in a darkened, dingy apartment, his body and mind dazed. Tomorrow morning at 9:30 he would meet his bride in divorce court. By 10:30 A.M. their marriage of thirty-seven years would be reduced to rubble scattered across the pages of a legal document.

Walk back in time with me to the onset of this atrocity…What could possibly have caused a man, seemingly so single-minded, to stray so far from his objective as to destroy all that he had held dear? We enter the pastor's study to find him researching a subject, using the newly acquired computer Internet service. Unwittingly, he enters a key word. With dizzying speed fifty hits return! Our unsuspecting pastor would never in his wildest dreams or fears be prepared for what was about to manifest itself. "This looks like what I had in mind", he thought" as he clicked on a prospective site…He watched in shock and dismay as lurid and sexually explicit images took form on the monitor. Feelings were awakened in this humble servant of God that were at once familiar, yet had at no time been a part of his fantasies.

In the two and one-half years that followed, our pastor's addiction left no time for prayer, reading, family counseling. He had become unrecognizable as a minister or family man.

Finally, the unspeakable acts that he had committed as a result of his devastating preoccupation lead to the demise of his career. Crushed and in a state of shame, his wife could no longer bear the feeling of rejection that she has at first tried to hide. All was lost…

Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

When we see, then hear, a response is required. The pastor in the above story could have been anyone. Current numbers are mixed. Some say that as many as one out of three men are addicted to pornography. Others put this figure at higher and lower percentages of the US. male population. It seems to me that this would be a hard one to call. I can testify first hand that most of the men and women, where I was employed for twenty years, thought it normal behavior. Christians are not excluded from the mix….. There is a real need to address this subject that has plundered so many lives. Though it could as easily have been abuse of alcohol or some other drug, adultery, lusting the possessions of others, or homosexuality, etc, there is one thing that precedes them all…They all begin with seeing…That all important glance or stare.

Gen.3:6 "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

The Garden of Eden was a perfect place. When Eve saw, she came to a conclusion …It looked good to eat, and it was pleasant to the eyes…This brought about desire, and the desire when embraced, brought forth an action. Both she and Adam, (you can't commit a sin that doesn't effect another, think about it), then ate the fruit and immediately their innocence was forever dashed against the wall. Their blissful existence, had allowed them to enjoy life in a perfect, controlled atmosphere, with a diet designed by The Creator at the tips of their fingers, clean water, no enemies... Best of all, they had the unique opportunity to physically walk beside and commune with the Father "in the cool of the day".

Gen.3:8 "They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…"

Once we experience something perceived through the gate of our eyes, we are faced with the option to continue. We alone make that all-important choice.

James 4:17 "To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

Some of you are face to face with a pivotal decision as you read. Proverbs Chapter 4 still beckons: My son, listen to this wisdom, do it and live. There is no easy way, but God holds our hand, and each time we resist temptation it becomes less complicated the next time we're faced with it…and we will be faced with temptation, time and time again. Look at verses 13 through 16.

13. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go: guard it well, for it is your life.

14. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men.

16. For there are those who cannot sleep till they do evil; they are robbed of slumber till they make someone fall.

V. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.

Don't try to be a spiritual hero, the battlefields are strewn with their riddled bodies. There are more than enough obstacles, some deadly, that a man of God will meet in a lifetime.

Someone might say, "I don't run from trouble, hallelujah!….I face everything head on!" These are the foolish words of a man who is young, and hasn't seen action; or one that has never posed any particular threat to the enemy to begin with.

I leave you with two simple tactics that mesh with the scriptures in many places….they have been true throughout time and they remain battle proven:

#1. Don't let your defenses down by facing the enemy alone. It wasn't an accident that Jesus sent His disciples out in pairs. Don't be alone when or where you shouldn't be…….not even in the name of "the ministry". No, the enemy isn't a person, but they both come wrapped in the same package.

#2. If you suddenly find yourself in a possible "situation" and it becomes apparent that the enemy has you outgunned……I repeat, retreat, learn, and live to fight another day.

"The Husbandman
   is never nearer
   the branches
   than during pruning."
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