He Should Have Stayed Off the Roof.
By Steve EnsleyThe other day I was talking with a group of guys including Tim Wildmon from the American Family Association and he made a comment that really caught my attention. We where talking about a situation where a man got into trouble because he put himself in the way of temptation. Tim's comment was "he should have stayed off the roof".
Of course, this reference is to King David in the Old Testament and his visits to the roof of his palace to spy on the wife of one of his men. It got David into big trouble because he did not "stay off the roof"In many ways the Internet is like the roof. It gives a great view of many things and many of those things are very attractive. And although they may be just out of reach, our minds begin to play games and we soon turn an attraction into a desire, and then turn the desire into an action and then the action produces a consequence.
Not all actions are bad and not all consequences are bad, but in David's case he was attracted to someone, gave in to the desire and then created an action that resulted in a man being murdered.
The Internet can do the same thing to any man today. First, a man accidentally sees a porn image through an unsolicited email or a clever re-direct from a disguised web site. Then his curiosity aroused, he explores more sites turning curiosity into desire. Eventually he takes action and subscribes to real hardcore porn sites or begins acting out and accepting the behavior he sees on the porn sites as normal. The consequences soon follow in the form of a breakdown in truly normal relationships with his spouse, children or friends.
These actions and consequences can get very destructive and not every man will reach the extremely destructive stage, but every man WILL be hurt in their relationships with loved ones by the lies and sin delivered in pornographic material. The evidence is over whelming, viewing pornographic material is not a victimless behavior.How about the case of a woman using chat rooms. It starts innocently enough with the woman just looking for conversation and connections. Soon the connections create a desire for more personal relationships. The desire quickly moves to an emotional involvement with another person on the Internet and then to a place of action beyond friendship and finally becomes a form of emotional adultery and intimacy. Internet adultery experiences the same consequences as physical adultery and the family or marriage is seriously harmed.
One more example, if you will bear with me please. This one is the child who finds Internet games to be attractive and begins to play these games out of curiosity. The action and competitive nature of the games soon create a desire to get involved in all sorts of games including the violent and role-playing games. Before long, the child learns that the only way to resolve conflict is with violence and the game playing mindset becomes the way the child deals with life and the trials of life. As the child acts out his game coached violence, his life is in turmoil because the game world never portrays accurately the severe consequences of uncontrolled violence. This was at least part of the issue and process that Eric and Dillon went through before tragically murdering thirteen people at Columbine High School.
I know most of you reading this article already have Internet filtering and I commend you for that decision. It speaks highly of your love for your family and you are the kind of people that I would be honored to call friend. I would ask that you consider taking your love another step forward and consider others you might know that are on the Internet and that should be using a filter. Help build a fence around the bad stuff!
What I am saying is that maybe David needed to go up on the roof. Maybe he kept his weight bench up there for his daily workouts. Maybe he had a favorite prayer niche on the roof. Whatever the reason David went to the roof, I believe that if David or one of his generals had erected a view-blocking fence around the rooftop of his palace, then maybe he could have avoided arousing the desires he finally gave in to. Ask yourself if you are the servant or general that should recommend building the Internet fence to protect the person you care for and love.
Maybe your friends need to get on the Internet for any number of reasons, so let's face it, filters are fairly cheap insurance and they just might save your loved one or friend from the consequences of an uncontrolled Internet access. I know I am somewhat preaching to the choir, but I implore you to help me. Help me spread the word that Internet filters do work and then maybe someday we will hear our friends or loved one say "thanks for the fence"!
God bless you and have a great day!Steve Ensley
AFO