By Pastor Joel Lawler

Time after time I see we as the Christians continually making the same mistake over and over again. We see people engaged in a behavior that is sin and we want to put a stop to it. Some do this in order to control others and to show their power. Most do this out of good intentions because they know that sin is bondage. Sometimes what is called sin is actually not sin but someone doing something that we prefer that they not do so we label it sin to manipulate them.

The problem that I see is that Christians deal with the issue of sin backwards. Christians immediately try to eliminate the supply rather than dealing with the demand. In Eden, God planted the forbidden tree. It was the "supply" and was not the problem. The problem was Adam's demand for that which God told him he could not have.

About ten years ago, I was working as a graphic designer. I lost my job due to downsizing. I was in Cleveland, Ohio, and the job market was brutal. A friend of mine lived in Nashville and her husband worked for an IT company. He was able to get me a job as a web designer. We were getting ready to move and I was talking to a guy at church about my new job. His face got red and he became deadly serious. He told me "You should not take this job. The internet is horrible and filled with bad stuff." He was well intentioned and I honestly

believe that he had my best interest in mind. I took the job and moved to Nashville.

He is right. The internet is full of horrible things. Some really bad stuff is just a click away. There are millions of websites dedicated to evil stuff. Take for example Yankee fans, they have hundreds of sites just for their debauchery, sort of joking here.

Why does the internet have all this garbage on it? Is the internet, as my friend warned me about, in itself evil or is their a deeper problem?

Take the issue of pornography. It is on the internet because people want to look at it. If they did not, it would not be there. There is a high demand for pornography so the internet is a vehicle to fill that demand. As long as their is a demand, someone is going to create the supply.

How do we deal with the demand?

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the

Prophets hang on these two commandments." 
- Matthew 22:37-40
If we love God and others God will change people's hearts. From out of the heart is where demand comes from.

Jesus gave us this task in the following passage.

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." - Matthew 28:16-20

The goal of Christianity is not about controlling people's behavior. The purpose of Christianity is to introduce others to Jesus so that they will find their own relationship with Him. He will change them. It is not our job.
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