UNDERSTANDING THE INAPPROPRIATE SEXUAL DEVOLUTION (PART 3 OF 4)
Movie lovers will no longer watch certain movies or television shows in the same way they were once accustomed to, or they will not watch them at all. Why? Because the actor, they once “binged watched” on rainy days, was discovered “binge harassing” women. Our artistic sources of temporary escape from stress have become permanent reminders of inappropriate behavior. Our comedians that have made many laugh have now made many cry.
For the past few weeks, I have highlighted the ways that our once respected icons were unknowingly ushered into a gauntlet of harming others, their families, and themselves. How can such creative minds cause so much destruction?
Two more root causes that contribute to the harassment and abuse of women will follow. I’ll highlight these two cancerous growths, but only to subsequently point out that there is a clear way out of this nightmarish nonsense. There is an answer. For every once iconic celebrity, politician, or doctor, there are thousands of men struggling in this very same area that live in the suburbs or work in the next cubicle. Many such men were likely violated in some way themselves.
Greed
Men cannot live spiritually unarmed. We live within a highly spiritualized conflict between good and evil that, if left unchecked, will produce greedy and gluttonous men. If one seems good, then three is better. Culture’s greediness leaves many unsatisfied and longing for more affirmation, approval, money, and meaning. Now piercing the heart of secular America, is an arrow that poisons us to want more and more and more. Wherever men sense a lack, there will likely be an effort to fill that void. Whatever we can force or manipulate into the empty purposeless areas of our lives will suffice, ever-so-temporarily. Then of course, there is a need for another fix. Sometimes the illusion of power and the deception of control are a man’s drug of choice. Often, women are the victims.
Invincibility
We live in a culture that, if left unchecked, will produce a false sense of invincibility. The abundance of money, an unwavering fan base, and the glory of success have metastasized themselves into some of our entertainers, politicians, journalists, coaches, trainers, and billionaires. We now know that many men, seemingly convinced of their invincibility, were violating female athletes, interns, and coworkers in a serial fashion.
Very intelligent, accomplished, and well-loved men in culture have fallen hard and quick. It wasn’t their lack of intelligence that destroyed them; it was their lack of wisdom. A sense of invincibility in a man indicates an abundance of reverence for oneself and the arid absence of a reverence for one’s Maker. There it is. We serve and seek to meet the needs of those we worship. When we think more of ourselves than we ought, we see ourselves as invincible.
Hope
What hope is there then for a weak man in an intoxicating culture that drives him to depersonalize those around him? What does one do when success and greed have put a man in a head lock?
Well, there is One who gives us what we want while simultaneously changing our corrupt desires. There is One who satisfies us like no other can. There is One who is the Light in the dark, moldy crawl spaces of our souls. There is but One who truly knows how to treat a woman and how best to treat a broken man.
In my next post we will not rehearse the problem but highlight the solution. Those who have recently fallen from high places are nowhere to be found, no longer in the public limelight. Those recently disgraced long for hope. It’s way too easy to point out their transgressions; in fact, it can almost be enjoyable. This, too, is wrong.
Be reminded of this truth…; He who has no sin, go ahead and cast the first stone (John 8:7). None of us are immune or invincible. How do we really experience what we really long for in life without hurting and shaming ourselves or others? In my next post, our answer lies.
-Dr. Gary Hewins
Lifepoints.life
