|
SUBJECT: Nudity
QUESTIONS: Is nudity, in and of itself, wrong? What
about classic nude art? What if watching nudity, in some
forms, does not cause me to lust or sin, is it then okay?
ANSWER:
The whole area can have pitfalls if one does not really
think about it. There are several aspects to consider here.
I went to the Internet and put in all kinds of search
parameters, under the headings of "nudity" and the "Bible".
I was not too pleased with most of the sites I toured, as
they did not fully address the complexities of the question
and subject.
I believe that the key here is the specific, unique
individual. Each of us is different. One person may never
have a lustful thought, regardless of the example of
nudity. Another may have lustful thoughts viewing a bare,
female foot. The key to answering this question is not to
focus on the subject of nudity, but rather the heart of a
person we are discussing. Having handled this, we can add a
few comments about the nudity itself.
What all mankind; what each human who has ever lived, must
do someday is stand before Jesus in judgment. In the
judgment, God will be looking at one thing........the
sub-total of the heart. Remember that at that moment one
stands their final judgment, they will have been introduced
to all truth and had the Holy Spirit (the
power of God) in them. All negative things, such
as lust and sin hurt the final product of the heart.
Positive things such as Godly principles (Galatians 5:22-23)
make for good character...Godly character. For
firstfruits, the time of judgment is now in the Salvation
Process they were called to after repentance, baptism and
the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit.
Once a person enters into the Salvation Process (repents,
keeps the law, overcomes sin, invokes the power of the Holy
Spirit, becomes more like Christ and remains in the Process),
he or she must do everything they can to keep making forward
progress in that Process. They cannot, for example, allow
lust, in any form to enter the mind. Lust often leads to
sinful acts. So, the key for the individual is to ascertain
that which incites or excites the lustful feelings and avoid
them. Notice what the Bible says...
1 Corinthians
6:18-20
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without
the body; but he that commiteth fornication sinneth against
his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the
Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are
not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in
your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Each person must identify those negative elements in his or
her life and take the appropriate steps. Now, having said
this, we can make some comments about nudity itself.
Most nudity in most movies and television shows are designed
to excite lustful feelings. They are designed to entice.
We know this. We can say the same things about certain nude
photographs. We can say the same for semi-nudity in
magazine ads. When it comes to classic art, we have to go
back to the individual. To some, classic art nudity is not
a problem; to others, it could very well be.
The pitfall here is self-deceit. We cannot pretend that
something does not affect us in some way, when it actually
does. We also have to think about the example we set by
having nude materials such as movies or magazines. Same for
viewing certain kinds of movies and even television
programming which is becoming progressively worse.
back to the top |