Whether you know it or not, there’s a battle for your heart raging on every day. Our sensual society seeks to seduce. Sex is available at our fingertips, whether through a swipe right or a Google search. And 62% of teens and young adults have received an explicit image via text or social media.[1]
Sex commodified in TV and advertising. And even if you’re not seeking it, it comes for you. 48% of young adults say they come across porn at least once a week.[2] That’s 10% more than seek out porn during that time.[3]
And it’s not just sex. The allure of drugs and alcohol is strong. Twenty-eight percent of college students report binge drinking in the last two weeks.[4] Marijuana use is at an all-time high (pun intended), at 42% among young adults.[5]
And if you want to overindulge yourself in food, most of us have no shortage of options, from Uber Eats to ice cream in the freezer.
Whether its sex, drugs, or food, our culture offers us pleasure on demand. And that’s no surprise. If all we have is this life, if there’s nothing higher to live for, then what is there to seek except to satisfy our own desires.
Even the apostle Paul recognized this. He said, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1 Corinthians 15:32).
In his letter to the Philippian church, Paul tells us how to stay faithful when our culture seeks to lure us from Christ. “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us” (Philippians 3:17).
If you want to live faithfully today, you need godly examples in your life.
Many Walk as Enemies of the Cross of Christ
You need godly examples because there are many others whose “god is their belly, and they glory in their shame” (Philippians 3:19). They desire only what is pleasing to their senses—things like good food and drink and sex.[6] And they celebrate things they should be ashamed of.[7]
What an apt description of so much of our culture today. And it gets worse.
It’s likely that the people Paul warns us against considered themselves Christians. Sadly, the situation is no different today. To use the example of sex, it’s clear in the Bible that God created sex to be shared only in the context of marriage (see Genesis 2:24; Matthew 5:27-32). But in Gen Z, only 25% of what Barna research calls “churched, but not engaged Christians” believe that sex before marriage is morally wrong.[8] Even among “engaged Christians,” only 75% believe sex before marriage is wrong.[9] And 39% of Christians who seek out porn say they’re comfortable with how much porn they use.[10]
It’s one thing to struggle with sexual sin. God forgives those who seek him. But it’s another thing to be ok with what the Bible says is wrong. Paul warns us against imitating those whose minds are set only on earthly things.
And the question isn’t really “Am I imitating someone?” The question is “Who am I imitating?” Often we imitate subconsciously. When I moved to Washington state for college, without knowing it, I developed a new accent. And it turns out this isn’t uncommon. It’s called linguistic accommodation.[11] But imitation goes beyond accents.
We imitate the actions and thought patterns of the people we look up to. And in our global and digital age, we have access to more people to imitate than ever. We’ve even created a new term: influencers. All you have to do is pick up your phone, and you have access to talks, vlogs, posts, and friends, not to mention people to imitate from tv and movies.
We need to ask ourselves, Who and what is influencing me? And are those people and ideas what I want influencing me? Is that what I want to become? Rather than unintentionally imitating the wrong examples, Paul calls us to intentionally imitate the right examples.
Imitate Godly Men and Women
If all we do is read articles, watch sermons online, or study our Bible alone at home, we’re going to struggle to stay faithful. That’s not to diminish the fact that we have a very personal relationship with God. And Paul is clear elsewhere that the Bible gives us everything we need to know God and follow him (2 Timothy 3:16). It’s not that the Bible is insufficient. It’s that we are insufficient.
We can’t always understand the Bible perfectly or see its implications clearly. We need to see what ordinary, daily walking with God is like in our city in the 21st century. Godly men and women can show us what it looks like to be a Christian nurse, programmer, or barista.
If you want to stay faithful in the midst of an age full of sensuality, where your heart is constantly being pulled away from God, then seek out older Christians in your church, family members, or peers who can inspire you to live with your gaze set on heaven.
In our season of quarantines, this takes even more intentionality. It may not be wise to buy a fellow church member coffee or lunch, especially if they’re older! But don’t let that stop you from reaching out. Shoot them a text. Schedule a call. Maybe even write an old-fashioned letter! Get creative and find ways to connect. It’s just as important now as ever.
Our Citizenship Is in Heaven
Paul tells us to imitate him because our citizenship is in heaven. And our citizenship dictates our concerns. I’m a citizen of New York City, so I’m not as concerned about the mayoral election in Denver, where my friend just moved, as I am about the election here. Our primary citizenship is not on this earth, so our temporary pleasure is not what’s most important.
That doesn’t mean sex, food, and drink are bad. They make great gifts, but they make bad gods. Abusing alcohol or drugs can damage you brain, liver, or kidney.[12] Using pornography can lead to depression, anxiety, and social problems.[13] And overeating can result in heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.[14]
If you seek earthly pleasures above all else, you’ll find only emptiness. But if what you long for most is not the gifts, but the giver, then you’ll proclaim with the Psalmist, “At your right hand are pleasures forevermore!” (Psalm 16:11).
Knowing this earth is not our home, “we await a savior” (Phlippians 3:20). We await something because we desire a change in circumstance. We don’t want to be single forever, so we await a partner. We don’t like our current job, so we await a new one. When our minds are set only on earthly things—our relationships, careers, or happiness—we don’t yearn for a savior.
The more we come to love Jesus, the more we long to see him face to face. The more we understand his goodness, the more we long to be with him in heaven.
Although our minds are so often consumed with only earthly things, there is one whose sight remained always fixed on heaven. And his gaze did not waver, even in the face of death. We were all once enemies of the cross of Christ. Our end was destruction (Philippians 3:19). But Jesus took that death upon himself. If you have faith in him, your future is not destruction but glory.
Your heart is a warzone. If you want to live faithfully in the midst of our sensualized society, keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example of Paul and of Christ. Imitate them as they imitate Christ.
[1] https://www.barna.com/the-porn-phenomenon/ [2] https://www.barna.com/research/teens-young-adults-use-porn-more-than-anyone-else/ [3] Ibid. [4] https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/infographics/drug-alcohol-use-in-college-age-adults-in-2018 [5] Ibid. [6] Cf. Gordon D. Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 372. [7] Ibid., 373. [8] https://www.barna.com/research/gen-z-morality/ [9] Ibid. [10] https://www.barna.com/research/porn-in-the-digital-age-new-research-reveals-10-trends/ [11] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/oct/04/usa.theeditorpressreview [12] https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/staying-in-hiv-care/other-related-health-issues/alcohol-and-drug-use [13] https://fightthenewdrug.org/why-porn-leaves-consumers-lonely/ [14] https://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
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