Christian Owned X-Rated Video Store?

Would you support a Christian owned X-rated video store?

Doesn't that just sound absolutely absurd?

What if they passed out witnessing tracts in every product they sold?

What if they offered to pray with every patron before they left the building? After all, wouldn't someone have bought the items from another video store anyway? Wouldn't it be better if they were at least shopping at a safe, Christian store where people genuinely cared about them? What if the owner used the proceeds to keep a 3,000 member church operating...

Are you sure it would be wrong? How do you know?

Take a few moments and read the following statements and decide on the common denominator:

"I know a man who never goes to church, yet he is more on fire for God than anyone I know; that proves that I don't need to go to church either."

"Smoking cigarettes is not wrong because Uncle Henry smokes and he is a Christian."

"I believe abortion is wrong, unless a woman is raped."

            What do these statements share in common? The essence of each of these comments, which accentuates a certain belief system, is based on situations. In each case, the situations determined each response. Each person has demonstrated that they are free to make their own determination of what is right or wrong-that they are, indeed, humanists. Secular Humanism, according to its own manifesto, teaches, "Moral values derive their source from human experience. Ethics is autonomous and situational."[i] Secular Humanism is essentially the belief that man makes his own destiny and that the God of the Bible is not involved, nor does He exist in any way. It is the philosophy that teaches that man is at the center of the universe and that he is capable of being his own god. Within this view is also the idea that man devises his own moral guide through experience and situations that he comes to in life. It teaches that there are no moral absolutes, and certainly no entity that is greater than man to make any rational system of rights or wrongs. This view is absolutely contrary to the Bible. It is both atheistic and pantheistic. [ii]

 It is an unwritten societal agenda that wants to incorporate the idea that moral actions are right or wrong based only in a proper setting, but this is not how God views things. It may be hard for us to understand, but there can only be a right way and a wrong way for every moral activity on earth. For example, murder is wrong, period. It doesn't matter if the person was trying to break in your home or not, taking a life is wrong. Abortion is wrong, period. Whether or not a person was raped is inconsequential. Homosexuality is wrong, period. It doesn't matter if those involved are private about it or if they are not hurting anyone. Even if someone is participating in what we consider a minor infraction-let's say someone is speeding down the highway to get to the hospital for their wife's pregnancy-it is still wrong. Wrong is the absence of total rightness. Right is the absence of total wrongness. A law is either being broken, or it is not. Now, I am not saying that a person committing these wrongs will not be justified in this life, because they may very well be, but to God it is wrong.

Recently, I undertook a time consuming task of researching and writing a 33-page article about the biblical manners and customs concerning alcoholic beverages and why Christians should not drink. In this process I sent out a few emails to different people to get a greater understanding of the various positions and beliefs concerning this hotly contested issue. In response to my query someone shared that they felt that drinking was wrong unless it was done only in moderation. In support of their affirmation was a story that is commonly known about a famous preacher that would hide his alcohol and drink when no one was around. Supposedly, he never drank to get drunk, never caused anyone to stumble, and he still fulfilled the great commission of preaching the gospel. Therefore, they surmised, that drinking in moderation should be acceptable.

What this person did not realize is that this story fell right into line with what I wanted to write about and it clearly demonstrates the destructive worldviews that have crept into every crevice of society going seemingly unnoticed. There are a few problems with their statement.

First, if the person writing the rebuttal knows about this "great preacher's" drinking issue, and I now know of it, who else knows and who else stumbled because of it? In order to make a statement that no one was ever made to stumble because of his drinking a person would basically need to be all knowing. Second, this person is basing what they believe about the matter on a particular situation or experience. I've been in several situations when I felt my sin was justified-but it doesn't mean I was right. I don't recall seeing any command that says, "Thou shall not take the Lord's name in vain unless, of course, you hit your hand real hard with a hammer." I know that "ouch" just doesn't seem like the word for the job, but that does not give us authority to use God's name as a curse word.

 Someone could cite a hundred different immoral scenarios and insert a sliver of good in the story to throw everyone off track but that will not change its premise. No one can take a glass full of 98% water, put one drop of poison in it, or equal to 2% of the content, and call it beneficial to our health. That one drop destroys any beneficial quality that the other 98% could produce. Any other reasoning is absurd. Just how much is required to make perfection imperfect? Not much. I'd say just one bite of fruit from a forbidden tree (Gen. 3).

Listen to this story of a self-professing Christian man who opened an X-rated video store. Based on his situation maybe we can determine whether or not he was sinning. Before you jump to any conclusions you should know that every video he rented contained a special message inside the case. It read something like this:

"Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for renting at my store. I have opened this store to further my ministry because the Bible says that the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. God said I was to use your money to further His work. I'm telling you this because I didn't want you to get the wrong impression about me, and I want you to know that God loves you. I also want to encourage you to believe in His Son for salvation (John 3:16). I'll be praying for you."

So, based on the circumstance, would this be right or wrong? The answer is wrong. It doesn't matter what he believed. It doesn't matter that he thought God had told him to do it. God will never tell someone to do something that goes against His Word. Remember, God is absolute-He is unchanging and His ways are unchanging. He is not moved by various situations like we are. In every moral issue they can only be right or wrong. There is no middle ground.

Does that sound harsh? I'm sure Adam and Eve had a whopper of an excuse for what they did. Surely, they said, "Being enticed by a serpent must count for something."

"But, But, But...God...it was only a bite of a banana, and I thought if the monkeys can eat them, why couldn't we?"

No, I think what God said was wrong regardless of any situation.

What excuses do you hear when you try to witness your faith?

Oh, yeah, in order to hear excuses you would first need to witness your faith; and second, you would need to confront a few culturally incorrect issues. If you want people to like you when they walk away just simply say, "God has a superb purpose for you. Treat people good and He will bless you. Remember, He loves you soooooo much." But that doesn't accomplish anything.

Read the prophets in the Old Testament. Read the words of John the Baptist in the New Testament. They called people out who were in sin. They confronted the super-religious. They helped facilitate a real change. It wasn't merely hype and drama like the words from President O...

Make your words count for something.

Make your life count for something.

That is your purpose.

Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel." Mark 16

The gospel is certainly good news, but it is not good news to those who never decide to make Christ their Savior.

Whoever believes in Him (Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. John 3:18

Can you handle this?

[i] Virginia Armstrong, Humanism in American Education I, (Blackstone Institute of Public Law and Policy).

[ii] Atheism is the belief that there is no God, or Creator and Sustainer of the universe. Pantheism is the belief in many gods. Secular humanism rejects the God of the Bible and teaches that man is or can become his own god.