The Eyes Have It

I was enjoying the show a lot.  The choreography was fun, the music was upbeat, the singing was incredible, the jokes were funny.  And I sometimes sang along.

Then the stripper scene started.  I had forgotten about that in the story line...

I'm sitting there with a mini strip scene happening (in my opinion, since I've definitely never been to one) with a few men in the crowd hooting and hollering.  I don't really care that it's a part of the show, I don't care if it's not a true strip show, I don't care if everybody else was watching and enjoying it.  I was disgusted.

Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.

Our culture is so flooded with sex and people are desensitized to it.  Everywhere you turn, it seems someone is gesturing to it or some picture is alluding to it or someone is being very explicit about it or what have you.  It's not a big deal, they say.  It doesn't effect me, they say.  It's just a part of the show, they say. 

Wrong.

What happened to purity, both physical and mental?  What happened to hating what God hates?  What happened to actively trying to resist temptation?

Sin is a big deal.  Sexual sin is a sin.  And it will hurt you and hurt those you care about.

It makes me angry because I know God meant for one man to enjoy only one woman and vice versa, and yet there are shows that enable a person to sit and indulge visually on another woman's or man's body with that supposedly special someone right next to them.  It makes me angry because someone dancing around half-naked with a nice body and provocative moves is not real life, and I think it potentially gives someone false expectations.  It makes me angry that everyone just sat there and watched this very sexual dance go on and on.

I get that you can just enjoy the show.  I just wonder how many people went beyond the simple show. Who went beyond into the lust and adultery and impurity side of things?  I'll never know, of course.  That's between God and someone else's heart.

It's disappointing, to say the least.  Because, as much as I wish there was one person who looked away, I don't think there was.

I don't care if you think I'll never see another show again because I will -- it will surely be more PG, and I'll be happy and less tempted and less angry.  I don't care if you think I'm the only one that thinks this way because I definitely know I am not -- the women next to me even expressed their disgust.  I don't care if I never see a stripper scene again or am the only one who tries to resist temptation.  I don't care.  Because you know what?  I am, sometimes.  I am the only one who wasn't laughing at jokes disgracing God, in my opinion.  I am the one who got up during one of those sexy scenes to go to the bathroom and not have to watch it, because I don't want to put that rubbish in my mind or heart.

I don't say this to toot my own self-righteous horn.  That's not the point.  I most definitely have my own struggles.  I'm just saying it because I'm mad at the sin and brokenness in the world, how it affects me and others, and the lack of what I guess is conviction. 

Maybe this is just a wake-up call for myself and others.  Be aware of what you are watching and how it truly can and will affect you and others.  No one is perfect but we all have the opportunity to honor God, honor our own selves/bodies, and honor others (significant others included). 

Resist temptation and flee from it, by any means necessary.  Stand up for what's right.  Renew your desire for purity.  Even if you're the only one.