“I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those who turn aside; It shall not have part of me” (Ps. 101:3).
There are a growing number of professing Christians today who believe nudity is more of an art than pornography. They see nothing wrong with watching it. They are “Corinthian” believers who’ve allowed the promiscuity of their culture to influence their lives and weaken their morality and spiritual witness. This is the reason there’s been so much controversy among Christians concerning movies like Game of Thrones and Shades of Gray. Many want to defend their right to view such filth.
Here are some reasons why watching nudity is impure, ungodly and evil:
- If just watching it was OK, why did Jesus say this?
“But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. And if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. For it is more profitable that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matt. 5:28-29).
Watching nudity is disobedience to the command of Jesus to cut off your eye or hand, die to self, lose your life and take up your cross and follow Him.
Some may say, “Well, it doesn’t affect me like that; it doesn’t cause me to lust.” That line of justification is more dangerous than you actually watching it. The fact that you believe it doesn’t affect you means your spiritual senses have already been dulled and your conscience seared in that area.
Others might say, “Well, Jesus did not state it was a sin to look. It’s the lusting that He forbids.” C’mon now! Do you really think, oh man, that you can watch nudity and not lust in your heart? Again, such justification is a big red flag, and all it means is you are fighting for the right to keep on watching nudity.
Justifying sin is one of the biggest tricks of the devil. He wants you to watch people take their clothes off, and he likes what it does to you.
- The devil also knows that watching nudity blinds you to God. It is an impurity that keeps you from seeing God as He is. It severs your intimate fellowship with God, just as it did in the garden in the beginning. Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened to see their nakedness, and thus, they were made blind to God and the blessed union they formerly enjoyed with Him. Instead, for the first time in creation, they were filled with fear, guilt, and condemnation. Only the pure in heart can see God (see Matt. 5:8). If you’ve been truly born again, Christ lives inside you. Try talking to Jesus while you’re watching someone other than your spouse or child take their clothes off.
Naive women need to know how nudity affects men.
Men are more easily moved by the sight of a nude woman than women are by the sight of a nude man. That is elementary. God has designed it that way. Nudity sells because it leads to pornography and sex. It is mainly the male sexual appetite that drives the sex business. If you are a woman, you need to be distinctly aware of the seducing power you can wield over a man with your body. Must you show cleavage? Must you wear such tight, skin-grabbing clothes? Are you really so naive to think that it’s just beauty or art?
Let the Word enlighten you.
“And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes” (1 Tim. 2:9, NLT).
Women are not even supposed to draw attention to themselves by wearing elaborate or expensive jewelry or clothes, much less display any measure of nudity. Now ladies, I’m not suggesting wearing plain and drab clothes, knotting your hair in a tight bun and not putting on any jewelry, but if the Word of God admonishes women toward cultivating this kind of modesty, is there any room at all for showing cleavage and wearing tight-fitting apparel? And shouldn’t the example of modesty be upheld first by ministers of the gospel? Then why is there such an all too frequent immodest and inappropriate display among female ministers or spouses in their dress?
- Watching nudity places you under the control of another and subtly enslaves you. King David watched Bathsheba bathe herself one evening and desired her (2 Sam. 11:2). Watching nudity increases your desire to have sex with someone other than your spouse. It causes you to fantasize, which Jesus said is equivalent to the act of adultery. What you feed grows. The desire to watch nudity will grow as you feed it. Then you wake up one day and find it so difficult to stop. It’s become a habitual practice and you’re now a slave to it, and you need deliverance.
Here’s the Problem
The problem is that most believers today are not taking Christ at His Word, and making holiness a serious enough matter, especially when it comes to their sexuality. They are burning with lust because they are feeding it. I’m a man. I know. I preach this message to myself all the time, so I won’t fall into temptation. We must put a restraining order on our flesh. Let’s be watchful in the right way, prayerful and cultivate an awareness of Him who lives in this temple of ours, for we are not our own (2 Cor. 5:15).
Know that Jesus didn’t just die to forgive us of sexual sin and immorality, but to purify us from the power that enslaves us to it, or in this case, causes us to watch it. He was crucified and shed His holy blood to set us free from all impurity and to make us pure (Titus 2:14).
Watching nudity makes us unholy and impure. It defiles our minds, our desires and then our bodies. It’s a vicious cycle that gratifies the flesh and then fills us with fear, guilt and condemnation. It is a violation of Philippians 4:8, which admonishes us to think on things that are good, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report.
Stop watching nudity that leads to pornography and illicit sex. Go to the throneroom of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in your time of need (Heb. 4:16).
Men, let’s smash this idol and purify our hearts as we work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12).
For only the pure in heart shall see God (Matt 5:8) (see my book, Purity of Heart).
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