WWJD with Porn? - Humanizing Part 2

In my earlier blog on WWJD with Porn, I suggested that Jesus looked beyond the skin of this “woman” with a reputation and responded to her hunger to be forgiven.

In this article, I’d like to expose our habit of stripping away another’s humanity by how we label them.

Take a look at these labels we tend to plaster over people’s faces. Which ones strip away a person’s humanity and which ones proclaim a person’s humanity?

PERVERT DAUGHTER

CONFIDENT WHORE

BASKET OF DEPLORABLES

BABY FELON

YOU PEOPLE FATHER

CHILD RAGHEAD

VAGRANT MOTHER

BROTHER SPIC

Again, which ones strip away a person’s humanity and which ones proclaim a person’s humanity?

Looking again at the account of Jesus attending a dinner party with a local religious leader, when a women snuck in and started wiping his feet with her tears and anointing him with an exquisite perfume, Simon, the religious leader, referred to her as a woman known around town as “living a sinful life.” In today’s slang, she was likely a whore, a very high-priced whore based on the perfume she dumped on Jesus.

But that was not who Jesus saw. He saw a woman deeply regretting the trap she had chosen to build around herself. He saw a woman starving for forgiveness from God and from man. And He gave her forgiveness.

Unfortunately for us, this was not unusual for Jesus. Rather it was just one many examples of What Jesus Would Do when interacting with those our society has scorned or dismissed. A couple of chapters later in Luke 9, Jesus is surrounded by a crowd of people as he walked along.

Coming to a sycamore tree, Jesus looked up and said, “Zaccheus! Hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” We are not told how Jesus knew it was Zaccheus. Possibly someone in the crowd exclaimed, “Hey look, it’s that rich little runt, Zaccheus. The one who steals our money.”

Regardless, Jesus knew Zaccheus was seeking him and to demonstrate the genuineness of his changed heart, Zaccheus told Jesus, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am giving back 4 times as much.” (Luke 19)

That is an excessive act of gratitude for being seen by Jesus! But remember the question that Jesus asked Simon when at his dinner party?

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him $120,000, and the other $12,000. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” (Luke 7)

Both the woman with the “reputation” and Zaccheus, the notorious tax collector thief, repented and were forgiven. And expressed their gratitude with excessive gifts.

But what about Simon and the others at his dinner party that looked down on the woman or the crowd around Jesus when He noticed Zaccheus? Did they see themselves as guilty as these two notorious sinners? If not, why not?

Did Jesus not say that looking at a woman lustfully (or pornography) was the same as committing adultery? I wonder how many of them had looked at her lustfully.

Curiously, the sin that one rials against the most in others is often the sin that haunts them. Pornography is one of the more common ones.

For those of you who have or still do struggle with pornography, know that God forgives. Of course, forgiving yourself for being a “whore” or a “pervert” may seem impossible, but it is not. You may read my story in my book, A Guided Climb to Forgiveness and Freedom.

Right now, though, consider this question. In these two events, besides Jesus, there have been the archvillains – the notorious sinners- and the others who were condemning these notorious sinners. Of these two, with which do you find yourself empathizing. Is your expression of love for Jesus more in line with the one forgiven $120,000 or the one forgiven $12,000?

Does that change as you start to fathom your choices and actions against those of others? Hold on, not others, that is too easy. How about compared against Jesus?

Call to Action:

When you interact with a cashier, janitor, police officer, clerk, or a laborer, interact with them as if they are another person like you, maybe having a long day. Ask Father how you may bless them? Maybe just calling them by their name on their nametag?