Purity Principle: Ch. 6 – Wise Strategies

In chapter six, Randy Alcorn begins to get very practical in the fight against sexual temptation by talking about doughnuts. Yup. Doughnuts. As in, if someone’s struggling with eating too many doughnuts, the wise thing to do is . . . stay away from doughnuts! Simple, right? Easy? Nope.

Alcorn wants us to really understand that good intentions, fervent prayers and even accountability is all for naught if we’re not willing to PREpare. You know, like ahead of time! How clueless we must be if we think we can handle situations without getting ready for them. Or perhaps we’re lying to ourselves when we say we want to stop. Stop looking at porn. Stop cheating on my wife. Stop fantasizing. Stop, stop, stop.

And so the first strategy is . . . Get outta there! Leave! Go! Flee! Alcorn rightly says, “[w]hen it comes to sexual temptation, it pays to be a coward.” Yes and amen! Joseph in Genesis 39 is surely our best example here. A young stud in a culture that seemed to thrive on male shirtlessness begins to attract notice from the wife of his master who begins to shamelessly flirt with him. Flirtation turns into outright demands to adultery. One day, when no one’s in the house, Potiphar’s wife sneak attacks Joseph, grabbing him and begging him to sleep with her. Let me repeat: NO ONE’S AROUND! What does Joseph do? God help us, he does what we should pray we would (will!) do. He “fled and got out of the house.” What self-control! What courage! Actually, it’s simple. It’s the Purity Principle: Purity is always smart; impurity is always stupid. Joseph understood this. Earlier he used this logic: “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

And there’s our problem. Do we really believe that a little lust, a lingering glance, a little release, some imagination, some “fooling around,” some indulgence is really great wickedness, emphasis on GREAT! Also, if it “won’t hurt anyone” in our modern parlance, can it really be sin against a God I can’t even see and may seem a little behind the times in regards to sexual ethics? I mean, have you seen the stats on porn? C’mon, it’s just a little fun!

FLEE!
Just get out. Get out in public! Get back to your friends, your family, your church, your wife, your parents. Do whatever it takes to put yourself in situations where it will be impossible to sin sexually. Albert Mohler once said that it’s this simple: he wouldn’t commit adultery against his wife if he wasn’t alone with another woman. Makes sense, right? Yeah, but that takes discipline to keep that a constant focus in your life. Open the blinds in your office. Take a male assistant on your business trip. Go places with a friend or in groups. Alcorn relates a story from a traveling businessman who asks the hotel staff to physically remove the TV from his room before he gets his room. That’s dedication and anticipation of potential temptations. I love this sentence: “In moments of strength, make decisions that will prevent temptation in moments of weakness.”

Alcorn further encourages us to cultivate our relationship with God by spending time with him to examine ourselves and know the pleasure of his presence that trumps any fleeting passions. To do this, he advocates disciplined memorization and quotation of Scripture. Then, simply pray and don’t give up! Don’t stop! Don’t quit! Fight, struggle, wrestle with the world, your flesh and the Devil. And do all this in the Spirit’s strength, not in your own feeble fists-clenched, teeth-set, eyes-squeezed-shut power.

I’ll end with Paul’s mighty words to Titus that remind us that our ability to resist sexual temptation flows from our experience and practice of grace:

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age . . .
Titus 2:11-12