For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’. – Holy Bible (St Mark 7:21-23)
LAST WEEK I BEGAN a series on “open heart surgery”. This kind of surgery is not physical in nature but is based on the “inner heart”, from where our thoughts, purposes and emotions spring forth.
The St Mark passage forms the backdrop for this series where Jesus Christ, the heart specialist, highlights 13 symptoms of a diseased heart, each of which requires “open heart surgery”. The first cluster of those defects to come under the surgeon’s skilful spiritual blade was “evil thoughts”. Today, I shall expose two more flaws: sexual immorality and lewdness.
I will explore the damage these two heart defects continue to do within the lives of mankind; the decision individuals have to make to have the defect corrected, and the discipline that must be applied in order to keep these two serious problems at bay.
Damage from sexual immorality and lewdness:
The specialist inner heart surgeon said: “Out of men’s [women’s] hearts, come . . . sexual immorality . . . lewdness. All these evils come from inside and make a man [woman] ‘unclean’.”
Sex sells. It really does. NBC News, January 14, 2014, for example, reports that pornography, which includes our innocent little children, places about US$97 billion in the pockets of perpetrators worldwide. For some, that figure may be very conservative. Cybersex (Internet sex) is a huge trade. Individuals, especially underage children, are positioned in sexually explicit chat rooms and the like in exchange for cash.
Lewdness, on the other hand, refers to unrestrained, indecent sexual conduct which embraces sadistic sexual acts, anal sex and sex with animals; gruesome rapes, sex with human corpses (necrophilia); and many more sickening sexual acts.
To ignore the existence of these behaviours would be to deny the very existence of life. Jesus, the “inner heart” specialist, said that such appalling sexual actions come out of a diseased “inner heart” and require a decision on the part of each individual to have it rectified.
Decision to have surgery performed:
Sexual immorality and lewdness are generated inside the “inner heart” of mankind because of what I am calling an “abnormal heartbeat”. When the physical heart has a heartbeat that is irregular, open heart surgery is usually recommended so that a pacemaker, which “replaces the heart’s defective natural pacemaker functions”, can be installed.
Similarly, the “inner heart” needs a spiritual “pacemaker”, the kind that overrides the natural sinful animal instinct with which humankind was born, so that proper regulation of the sexual desires can be attained. This surgical procedure requires the recipient to make a decision to permit the “inner heart” specialist, Jesus Christ, to correct that sexual defect with an extraordinary “device” called grace (favour we do not deserve).
The “device” and its benefits are recorded in Titus 2:11-12: “For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation (deliverance) to all people. It teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”
The beautiful thing about this grace is its availability to every human being and its ability, when surgically installed by the Master Surgeon, to instruct every sexually immoral and lewd individual regardless of class, creed or colour.
Years ago, I met a man who said his sexually immoral acts with scores of women over an extended period only brought him misery, rather than inner peace. He then expressed how he decided to undergo open “inner heart” surgery. He then related how the powerful grace he received miraculously transformed his inner man, causing major behavioural changes.
This instance is similar to another female who spoke of her sexually immoral lifestyle with both men and women. Fortunately, she also underwent the same surgical procedure and was elated by her freedom. The examples cited are not isolated occurrences.
Discipline after surgery:
Grace is endowed with a powerful after-surgery educational component: “it teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions”. When applied through discipline, it works wonders in fostering resilience within the “inner heart” against the pressures of sexual immorality and lewdness.
The application of discipline must first be done in two areas by every person who undergoes “inner heart” surgery: rejecting ungodly habits and rejecting world passions. This must be done by deliberately setting out on a daily basis to develop a hatred and a total disgust for anything that has the potential to draw one back into the cesspool of sexual immorality and lewdness.
Disciplinary measures must also be used to consistently practise the values given in Titus Chapter 2: “to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives”. One of the major lies of our times is that individuals can only discipline themselves to be career driven, excellent sports personalities and great musicians, just to mention a few examples. However, when it comes to one’s sexual desires, discipline must go through the window. No doubt the myriad of sexually transmitted infections and diseases are creating so many serious health and other issues for the world today.
I concur with Charles Darwin, who said: “The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognise that we ought to control our thoughts.” Excellent counsel from a noted scientist. H. Jackson Brown Jr also said: “Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backwards or sideways.” I chuckled when I read Brown’s words. I also thought how powerful they are, especially in our world that is not short of diverse talent but seems to have an aversion to discipline.
I wonder what it would be like for the world if those involved in sexual immorality and lewdness made a decision to have “inner heart” surgery and then disciplined themselves to live upright and godly lives?