Lust

"If your right eye or hand causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it from you. For it is better to lose one part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell."

When I was a little boy, I had a friend named Kendra. She was the only friend I had who was a girl, and as we all know, when we're little we're curious. And so Kendra and I decided to get together one night under a fort made of blankets and do some exploring. We explored each others parts. And it was good. And the thing about it was, we weren't ashamed about it. We were innocently curious. Now, we didn't tell our parents about it because we were afraid of what they may do, but it was our little secret. We dove into the profound nature of human sexuality, a crash course if you will. And as kids, we saw this endeavor as a gift, something to be held with care and curiosity. 

But further down the line, as I got older, sex became less of a gift and more of a curse. It became a cause of shame and embarrassment. There were even times when I made vows to never explore the nature of sex before marriage, although I broke them all. As religion became more a part of my life, it seemed that sex was something to be left alone at all costs. It was an evil, corroding thread that caused mankind too much trouble. 

And it seemed that the older I got, and the more religious I became, any act that was sexual became forbidden. Those things weren't to be discussed. Kids in youth group would have their gossip on Sunday morning, and if you had some good information about Tommy and his girlfriend "doing it," then you were the popular kid that day. 

I don't view sex that way anymore, thank God. However, there's still this false narrative that's being pushed by certain religious crowds condemning sex in all its forms. Whether it be sex outside of marriage, masturbation, or same-sex marriage, there's this constant push to take sex out of its original context as a gift from God, and turn it into this evil monster that's waiting to devour every little boy or girl who's curious about sexuality. 
 
And one of the reasons I think this narrative has made it as far as it has is, the verse up top. For some reason, people have connected Jesus's words with sexual lust. And so, according to this interpretation, me and Kendra should have been more concerned about tearing out our eyes and ripping off our hands than asking questions about our sexuality. And so, I've taken the liberty to re-word this famous anti-sex passage into the following:

"If there are parts of your being that need to be let go of, then it's better to let go of them than to become a walking dead person."

I think this is way more along the lines of what Jesus was trying to get across. Why? Because if it means the former, then Jesus was condemning every human being who's ever lived on the face of the earth. No one is removed from the act of lusting. Yet, there are still folks out there who wave the anti-lust banner as if they're cured from this vital part of the human experience. I call it vital because it's wired into us as humans in regard to sexuality. Of course, there are real problems that come from sexual lust that turns into actions that oppress others, but there are also many other forms of lust. Jesus wasn't just talking about the sex form.

Greed the lust for more, and is an engine that can drive me and turn me into a walking dead person. 

Materialism is the lust for material success and will give me tunnel vision and blind me from seeing the needs of others.

Resentment is the lust for revenge and will drain any sort of joy I ever thought I had solely so I can entertain the thoughts of paying people back for the wrongs they've done me. In the end, I'm the one who's screwed. 

This passage is about letting God remove the things that block me from experiencing freedom. What are those things?  

Am I willing to let God take them away?

Or, do I need to hold on to them a little longer? Maybe I need to die a little more before I'm ready to let go. 

Sometimes, it's not a matter of being willing as much as holding onto whatever it is that ails me as long as I can until it hurts too much. When my hands are bleeding and my body is screaming, the sheer torment of it all forces me to let go and try trusting God over my crooked self. 

"If there are parts of you that need to be let go of, then it's better to let go of them than to become a walking dead person."