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This morning I read a
statistic dated back in 2003 that there are 260 Million
pornographic web pages on the internet. That was an 1,800%
increase since 1998. Go back and read that statistic again. If
that was quoted from a report dated back in 2003, and say that
it conservatively increases by only 10% year over year, we could estimate that right now, there are over 346 Million
immoral web pages on the internet. So that would essentially
mean that we or someone in your family have 346 million
opportunities of going to an immoral web page that could change
that life forever. And here's that catch, it's all free. We (or
a family member) simply have to insert the wrong word into a
search engine and bam, there you are!
I read another statistic,
actually two differing but you'll get the point, that you have a
"1 in 13,983,816 or 1 in 3,838,380" chance of winning the
lottery by playing one dollar. Now let's assume for a moment the
internet was ran like the lottery. Say that it cost you $1 per
search (chance of finding a pornographic site); comparing the
two statistics, you'd have a better chance of winning the
lottery than finding an immoral site on the internet. However,
as you are probably thinking by now, the internet search is free
and it's not ran like the lottery. It's more like having a
lottery official call you and tell you what the next six numbers
would be.
Allow that to
sink in for a moment, 346 million immoral web pages. Obviously,
the enemy is hard at work if there are over 346 Million web
pages that will tempt us, tear at our spirit, and try to destroy
what God has created us to be; Valiant Men. Now don't go
overboard here and go ripping out every computer in your home or
eliminating your families ability to seek out the other millions
of pieces of knowledge that's on the Internet. That's not a
Valiant Man. What we must understand is that those web
pages were made primarily to reach men; because, as Dr. Meyer's
explains, men get "high through the eyes ... and men get their
kicks through their eyes first. It produces a chemical high and
[we] learn to despise lesser thrills." But make no doubt about
it, our "highs" can and will affect every aspect of not only our
family lives but our social and work lives as well.
As for the
Internet, we are the heads of our households and shall act
accordingly. Ephesians 5:23-27 states, "23For the husband is the
head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body,
of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to
Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in
everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved
the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy,
cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and
to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or
wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."
Applying this
to the Internet and our family, we must ... no wait, we shall
take authority over what content we allow ourselves to view. We
shall take whatever precautions we must to be "without stain or
wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." As
Valiant Men, there are password protected filters that can be
set up on our computers that block inappropriate web pages, kids-only sites such as on AOL called "KOL ... Kids On-Line" and
Internet Accountability software such as Covenant Eyes that
notifies our accountability partners of any inappropriate site
we have visited.
Until next time, keep
your eyes on Jesus !
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