I was sitting on the bleachers by the football field one afternoon during football practice. It was a warm day, and I felt the heat of the bleachers. I was already sweating from practice, and the bleachers didn't help. I would have gotten up, but the prospect of walking after just having worked out was less appealing than the heat.
As I sat there exhausted, I noticed a group of girls sitting on the next set of bleachers. They were talking and laughing... more like giggling. They were watching some of the other football players that were still on the field.
Paul talks to the Corinthians, "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you..." (1 Corinthians 5:1). I think this is more true than we realize. Think about how Satan operates. Sometimes sexual immorality is obvious and blatant. It is one of those things that is heavily influenced by our biochemistry, and that makes it harder to keep from falling victim to it before we realize we're falling... harder but not impossible. How does Satan usually operate against us, though. The vast majority of the time, it is subtly. It is little by little, the gentle slope to sin. We often look to the extreme and miss the subtle even when honestly trying to purge ourselves of wrong-doing, and so we miss the inroads Satan finds and uses in us.
Think about it. What is honestly happening when a group of guys stay after school to watch the cheerleaders practice or even the volleyball team? It is rarely to support the team. It is not innocent. It is an excuse and an opportunity to lust. I doubt very much there would be any guys staying after to watch the practice if the girls wore clothing that wasn't revealing. How do you feel about the guys who do this?
"'All things are lawful for me,' but not all things are helpful. 'All things are lawful for me,' but I will not be dominated by anything. 'Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food'—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord" (1 Corinthians 6:12-13).
I would venture to say that most believers and many unbelievers have a negative view of what those guys are doing. Is it not odd to find the same people who look down on these guys sitting in the bleachers watching the football players?
This hypocrisy is not exclusive to females. It effects males, too. I remember not thinking very highly of the girls lusting after those football players, but I know I have failed in the area of lust. Does our hypocrisy know no bounds? Do we really look down on people for doing the exact same thing we are guilty of? Is it not more in keeping with the example of Jesus to gently reveal the wrong-doing in love and encourage them to no longer engage in it? Why not go farther? Invite them to go do something else. They may not know any better, and that way they at least have an option.
Love them like Jesus.
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