Sheila and I walk several miles each day.
Yesterday we're walking along, talking about how excited we are to be engaging the upcoming changes at GCC. We're walking. We're talking. There we go...the preacher and his wife.
Then we see it - a small paper bag overstuffed with an empty bottle of whiskey, pornographic magazines , a DVD and stains of unknown origin. It's all right there at the edge of the road.
Rats.
What's a man supposed to do at a time like this?
I stopped and picked up the bag.
Sheila said, "What are you going to do with that?"
I answered, "I'm not sure, but we can't leave it here. It's the last thing two kids cruising along this country road need to find. We leave it and it's going to do damage to somebody."
"So," she inquired, "You're going to carry that along on our walk?"
"Yeah. I'll take it home and we'll throw it away."
"And we put magazines like that in our trash? Should we have stuff like that in our trash?"
"Hmmmmm. Good point. Maybe we should burn it. That way no one is ever able to see it again. What do you think? Is that what we should do?"
"What else can we do?"
"I don't know. Try not to drop dead between here and the house. It might be difficult to explain why we go for our walks carrying porn with us."
"Should I leave it?"
"How can you? Some kid riding his bicycle along here doesn't need to find that trash. Take it home and we'll burn it."
"OK. Wish the bag was bigger."
"Yea. We're only two miles from home. Let's go burn this stuff."
Well now.
What do you think about that?
We're in a world that's broken and sad. We're in a world where young ladies do shocking things for a moment of meaning, to satisfy lust, or to pay some bills. We're in a world where men will pay women so they can use them, and women will use men to get what they think they want. It's crazy. It's heartrending. It's egregious.
And there are consequences.
One result of sin is porn, and one consequence of porn is a discarded brown bag filled with it, lying along the roadside...for anyone to see.
So, what do you think about what we did when faced with a bag of roadside porn?
Were we right?
Could we have done something better?
What do you think?
Acts 19:18-20 - "Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of all; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing."
I just have to reply to this blog. I am a kindergarten teacher. One day in May I was on web sites that provided me with kindergarten curriculum--and I could not believe my own eyes--four small frames of porn pics on one "pop-up" page of some unwelcomed website--on MY innocent computer! I was offended, and felt sick, physically and spiritually. I now have visual pictures in my head that I do not want to be there. As a kindergarten teacher--you would be surprised how issues of porn can affect our young population. Much prayer is needed for this subject matter. Sheryl Spurrier
Posted by: sspurrier | August 02, 2008 at 01:33 PM
Hi Pastor Mark. This blog made me sad. Not because of you and your wife's response--which was both appropriate and helpful, but because this issue is so present and so damaging, and so under-discussed in the church. I work over at Summit in Orlando, and we were just having a meeting about creating some kind of curriculum for talking to the youth about sex. It's always so taboo in the church, which I feel can really be doing a great disservice to both Christ and His children--who seem to learn about sex from every disreputable place besides their parents and their pastors, like a paper bag on the side of the road. Thanks for taking even this small step in loving others well.
Posted by: Kailey | August 02, 2008 at 02:06 PM
You did the right thing Pastor. It's sad to think we might need to carry a blow torch on our evening walks. I don't mean to make light of the situation, but the concern of finding it in your trash is very, very real. Unfortunately, this stuff is finding its way into Christian homes on a regular basis. It destroys marriages and families and walks with God. To some, it is a drug. To many it is sin. Sadly, to our nation it is a right. I just don't think this was ever envisioned by our founding fathers.
Posted by: Jim Ruth | August 02, 2008 at 09:34 PM
Wow. If that doesn't remind us of the actual "lost-ness" of the lost, I don't know what will.
On a lighter note ...I couldn't help but chuckle at this line: "I don't know. Try not to drop dead between here and the house. It might be difficult to explain why we go for our walks carrying porn with us."
Posted by: Ariel Martinez | August 03, 2008 at 12:14 AM
Pastor Mark - Once again you and Sheila show your heart for all of God's children, even the the younger ones. Thank you for that.
Isn't that just like Satan? We are walking in God's blessing, enjoying what He has given us and looking forward to what He will give us. (Pop-beads for pearls, baby!) And Satan throws some kind of trash right in our path.
When I don't actually succumb, too often my instinctive reaction is to try to ignore it, to act like it isn't there and I didn't see it.
Maybe that's Satan's fall-back plan. If he can't trip me up, maybe he can get me to just leave it there so it will trip up someone else. And I can easily justify that - just as you could have easily justified leaving that trash where you found it.
But, at least sometimes, the God-thing to do is to take a chance, to risk getting my hands dirty (and sometimes my heart hurt) by cleaning it up. To trust Him to protect me, as I am obedient.
Thank you for your example. May God continue to bless you and Sheila.
Posted by: Phil | August 03, 2008 at 09:19 AM
Thanks so much for sharing this story. What struck me most of all in this post was how you were thinking of the kids coming along later who this might effect. You could have easily walked by and murmured comments of disgust and then moved on about your day. But you chose to do what you could do to bring heaven down here. Kind of reminded me of the stranded starfish at the beach story. You not only made a difference in some person's life you set an example of how we can live our lives with a eternal perspective. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: leslie petersen | August 03, 2008 at 09:28 AM
Dear Pastor,
today was the day i finally decided to check out your blog, and im glad i finally got to it. This specific blog touches me, not only because its something i have a strong opinion about but because its something that ive seen effect some around me. As a teenager, having teenage friends who don't know Christ, porn is something that has just become something 'normal' for a teenage boy to look at. Though i know different. Not only is it degrading to us girls who try and keep pure for the Lord but it sends a message to the guys that us girls are ok with being used. I want my future husband to be pure, and porn is something that keeps the future men of God from being that. Its not 'normal', and i refuse to ever give into the thought that it is. Purity is something God wants us to have, so thank you for making a decision to not just leave it there, but to burn it. Because maybe, just maybe, you have kept someone's future husband pure. (:
God bless & much love,
allisa
Posted by: Allisa | August 03, 2008 at 03:09 PM
Pastor Mark,
It is my opinion you all did the right thing. I have gone through that same scenario: what if something happened to me between now and home? I do a lot of road cycling and will occasionally come upon the "flung" magazine or DVD. I wonder what to do with it since, like you, I don't want some young person (or anyone for that matter) to come upon it. I know what porn can do and the scars it brings. The DVD I can break or fling like a frisbee but the magazine? It is sad that kids are losing their "innocence" at such a young age. And the results? Well, just look around.
Posted by: Bill (cycleguy) | August 04, 2008 at 04:56 AM
Yes, Mark. We love you and Sheila and your heart. The interesting thing is that I just had a conversation with a guy who is "well-versed" in the Bible about a passage in Ephesians, where this particular version mentioned that sins such as the one related to your story("fornication") should not even be "named among you", (Eph 5:3) and how he thought it meant it should not be talked about in church. Sex is something beautiful that God created and Satan perverted it. I did not agree with him, because I think we as the Church, have the duty to put it out there and talk about it, not hide and pretend it is not an issue. Since I do not think God would like for us to hide real issues, by looking at preceding verses, Paul is just telling the church that it should not be part of our lives, not that it should not be talked about.
Thanks for sharing the story.. You guys rock!
Posted by: Bruno | August 04, 2008 at 08:56 AM
This post was profound. It caused pause and I love how you walked through the real life story problem of the situation. You are a great communicator.
I laughed:
"What else can we do?"
"I don't know. Try not to drop dead between here and the
house. It might be difficult to explain why we go for our
walks carrying porn with us."
And, I cried:
"...women will use men to get what they THINK they
want...And there are consequences."
And, I had to look up what egregious meant.
Posted by: kemmeyer | August 04, 2008 at 10:29 AM
You did what had to be done pastor. I'm sure Jesus would have done the same thing.
Posted by: Thomas Hoyt | August 04, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Dad, Thanks for posting about your walk with mom this morning. I think it's so awesome that you wrote about your reaction. I want to react to things the way you do...because I think you react like Jesus would. I'll come over for the bon-fire - just let me know when it is :o)
Heart,
Amber
Posted by: Amber Cox | August 04, 2008 at 03:54 PM
Oh my, yes you did the right thing. Just thinking about a time my son was on a cross country meet and came to me with this magazine he had found on his run. We decided to rip that thing to shreds and throw it away. I was sad he had to see it in the first place. I am so glad you have burned that so no child will see it!
Oh, and thank you for the phone call last Sunday via my sister-in-law's cell phone minutes before the 10:30 service was to start. That was definately the Lord working through you to start a "change" in my life. I am dismounting the old broken down horse! Terrific service!
Posted by: Linda Ditto | August 04, 2008 at 05:11 PM
I don't see why porn is a big deal. Its a way to make money and face it; humans are sexual beings
Posted by: a female | August 05, 2008 at 12:15 AM
I reckon I am surprised by this last comment, especially being made by a female. I see at least 3 things wrong with it: 1) It is an affront to God. I realize that if someone is not a Christ-follower that may not mean much. God made sex beautiful to be enjoyed between a husband and a wife. 2) it is an affront to a woman. It is degrading to her as a person. I am not proud that I have viewed porn but in that I have yet to see the "uplifting" of a woman in it. 3) it is a affront to a man. The way being a man is pictured is not God's idea of being a real man. Women were created in the image of God and treating them with disrespect and like cattle to be branded and passed on is counter to what God intended. We are told to honor women not degrade them. 4) it is an affront to society. I see no redeeming value whatsoever in porn. Zip. It is a contributor to STD's, to lower values and morals, to increased rape, and other side affects. 5) it is an affront to a person's spirit. It stifles the relationship to God. The images stay with you therefore clouding how you view others.
I could go on but I said 3 and did 5. Sorry Mark and others this went on so long. If anyone has struggled with this issue you will know why this is a hot button.
Posted by: Bill (cycleguy) | August 05, 2008 at 08:46 AM
cycleguy - wow, can't believe you used the word "wrong" when it came to that female's perspective. if i were her, i'd be turned off by christianity. pretty judgmental to preach to someone without knowledge of their heart.
Posted by: anonymous | August 05, 2008 at 02:06 PM
I should have clarified that I was not saying she was wrong. I should have said, "I see three things wrong with porn." Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Posted by: Bill (cycleguy) | August 05, 2008 at 03:31 PM
Mark-
Do you remember about 30 years ago when someone discarded a porn novel on the roof of the Farmland United Methodist Church? Boy, did we all have questions for you!?!?!! I am trying to recall what we did with said novel, but I imagine the reaction on your part was the same. Not unlike "Try not to drop dead between here and the house. It might be difficult to explain why we go for our walks carrying porn with us.", we all were hoping that Jesus wouldn't come back while we were trying to find a place to dispose of it.
Posted by: Joel Bennett | August 05, 2008 at 10:06 PM
Pastor Mark, I think everyone really missed the point here. Everyone was concern about what everyone else would think if someone saw them even touching porn. Did anyone even think about the person that threw it away? I don't think it ended up on the roadside by chance. I think someone was purging themselves of something that was wrecking their own life. Perhaps not the best way to get rid of it, but I don't think the person that physically threw that out his car window wanted to keep it any more. I don't think he intended to share it with you. Heaven forbid that you would come that close to someone who was lost and decided to change his ways and even witness what he was doing. I would be thinking about what you personally would do, if you ever met that person face to face. In fact, he probably passes by you every day on your walks. Take a good look at the people passing by next time you go on a walk.
Posted by: don | August 06, 2008 at 08:32 AM
I read through all the posts and I think Joel had it right. I wondered who dropped the stained, stuffed bag of porn. Really, the content of the weathered paper bag had great significance to its previous owner. To just drop it any where could hardly be a mistake. Maybe it was someone at the end of their marriage, making a u-turn. It goes without saying that Porn and a good stoning go hand and hand. Could that bag have been a line in the sand, dropped just around the time a voice said "go and sin no more". Personally, when I run across stained stuffed bags of porn I take a quick glance and remember stains are hard to get out. In a past life, I bought foreclosed real-estate. 9 times out of 10 in the piles of junk remaining after foreclosure eviction there was a stock pile of porn left . It is easy to look at the family reunion pictures on fridge and clothes in the kids closet and realize where the porn ride goes. But in the case of Beeson's bag of stained stuffed porn, maybe someone drew a line in the sand, and Beeson was lucky enough to pic up the pieces. Or some old redneck will be "readin" this blog and realize where he lost his #9 value deal: DVD, porn, and a drink. $9.95
Posted by: James Adair | August 19, 2008 at 11:40 PM