Are You Contributing to a Culture of Lust?

Christian woman, you may not even realize it, but are you pornifying our culture?

Perhaps you say “no”–

• “I hate even the idea of porn!”
• “I don’t invite men to look at me with lust.”
• “I would never do that!”

BUT– TAKE A FIELD TRIP THROUGH YOUR PHOTOS

Go right now to the photos you have publicly posted of yourself.

Facebook profiles. Instagram. Wherever you do that. Take a moment to browse through those photos.

Then come back.

I’ll wait.

Having done that, let me ask: which of these 2 lists are a more accurate description of the public photos of YOU?

Are they:

• Realistic?
• Sometimes unflattering? (and not in a cutesy/funky way)
• Featuring you with other people?
• Natural/spontaneous?
• Taken by other people?
• How you really look in real life?

 

OR, are they:

• Idealized?
• Shadowy/sultry/colored/painted?
• Almost all selfies?
• Posed?
• Taken from a particular angle to flatter and conceal?
• Hiding what you actually look like?
• Featuring particular parts or angles of your body (pouty lips, a “killer” jawline, elongated eyelashes, etc.)?
• Exposing more than should be exposed to someone not your husband (bra straps, a little bit of cleavage, lacey PJs).
• Unusually close to your face?
• Meant to stir up desire in others?

 

Many Christian women, who I think would say they hate porn, take pictures that imitate its form.

Sultry lips, smoldering eyes, a serious look, in a dark room, alone with a camera… whatever your female friends say in their comments on the photo, these profile pictures go beyond “pretty.” Through the eyes and atmosphere of the photo, they invite inappropriate attention in a way that resembles lusty photos, rather than reflecting a godly spirit.

 

Let me ask it a different way:

• Would you want _____________ to regularly look at images of women that are stylistically similar to yours?

Insert the following people in that ^^^^ blank:

• your grandpa,
• your (future or current) husband,
• your (future or current) 13-year-old son,
• your pastor.

If your photos are more like the second list than the first, or if you would not want your grandpa/husband/son/pastor to look at photos like yours, then you are contributing to the lustful culture you say you dislike.

 

If you want to fight a porn culture, be a visually upright woman.

• Wear and choose your clothes in such a way that GOD gets the glory– not you, not your body, not your great fashion taste– GOD.
• Keep the alluring parts of your body for your husband’s eyes alone.
• Use makeup (if at all) in a way that honors God’s design, rather than concealing and confusing what He made.
• When taking pictures of people (including you!), take pictures that highlight God’s creative beauty in the same realistic way a beautiful field of flowers does– without fakery.

Fight porn culture by being a woman who reclaims BEAUTY by refusing to fake yourself up.