Much has been made about Mark Driscoll who is the pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. He is a provocative and controversial pastor who has a unique approach to presenting the gospel in this postmodern age we live in. Though he is highly orthodox in many ways he tends to rub many people the wrong way because he speaks to men (in particular) in raw language. He meets people where they are, speaks the language of the culture, and is very direct about matters of sex.
One thing Driscoll discusses matter of factly is masterbation. Christianity over the ages has frowned on masterbation, calling it a sin, and has preached against it. Driscoll gives the go ahead on masterbation and speaks frankly about it I presume because he thinks that the church's view on masterbation has hurt the cause of Christ and has made Christians out to be victorian characatures who think sex is a dirty thing. I think Driscoll is right in many ways and I have little problem with him talking directly about an something that people universally do, yet many feel guilty about doing, and many others shy away from even talking about the subject.
Having said this I think Driscoll adds a condition to his masterbation seal of approval that makes me scratch my head and say, "Is he serious?" He tells people that while they can go ahead and masterbate that they should make sure they do it without lusting. While I am not advocating lusting or giving permission for people to have sexual fantasies while they are masterbating, still I think we need to get in the real world. People masterbate when they are thinking about sex, and are creating an image that helps perpetuate an eros whereby making masterbation enjoyable. I think it is good for both single people and married people for that matter to have experiences in life where they are not overly preoccupied with sex. What i mean is don't allow sensuality to become an idol and find ways to feed it.
I think it is good for masterbation to not be the big bad demon that many want to call it. Many people do it in moderation and don't turn "blind" from it. Having said that and realizing that people are going to do it, don't turn around and say make sure you are doing it without any sexual stimuli attached to it. This is ridiculous and an insult to reasonable people. Those who have any knowledge of the Christian faith, know that sexuality is a gift from God designed for the marrital relationship. Masterbation is simply a matter of economics, people doing something that works to fill a need. Can it be a sin? Yes, it can if it deters from your relationship with God and becomes an addiction. But to say that it's okay to do it but do it like an exercise you can do while watching a sports event or thinking about baseball cards just won't work. If you feel that way, just be honest and say you really don't approve of it.
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See, here's the problem. Christ said that lusting after someone (other than your wife) is equal, in God's eyes, to committing the act of adultery, since God is looking at us in reference to what we are, sinners from the heart. So, to assert that fantasizing about someone other than your wife while sexually pleasuring yourself is not sinful is, in my understanding, to be opposition to this teaching of Christ. Also Christ through James says "but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers (James 1:14-16).
On a completely human-fleshly level, I don't see why it is absurd to think that one cannot enjoy his or her own body without thinking of having a sexual encounter with someone else. Of course it's going to be more erotic when thinking of someone else. Why else is pornography one of the biggest business on the planet? It's a means of "safe" and somewhat "guiltless" prostitution and voyerism. However, just as in the illustration of the "boiling of a frog", we can begin to be less stimulated by the mental imagery that previously worked. And while I am in no way insisting that the following will happen to everyone or even to most people who look at pornography (or for that matter read pornography in the form of so-called romance novels), but you may rest assured that child molestors didn't start out as such. They worked their way to that level of insensitivity and perversity beginning at the bottom somewhere, whether through personally being molested or through graduation from one type of pornography to another, and finally making it to the level of not only looking at "kiddie porn", but actually abusing children, or animals for that matter.
These are two well-written articles by Douglas Wilson (Todd's favourite), in the Credenda Agenda magazine:
http://www.credenda.org/issues/17-4husbandry.php "Comparisons (on the 10th Commandment)" ; and http://www.credenda.org/issues/17-5husbandry.php "Dealing With Lust".
I have difficulty believing that I would not be ashamed to meet Christ, either via a sudden heart attack or through the monumental witness of his return at the moment I was in the midst of actively, stimulatingly thinking about boinking someone who isn't my wife.
Your comment is stated well. I'm not sure that I agree with it, though I think you covered all the bases. I guess I would just prefer that those who have that view just don't talk about it via the pulpit and leave masterbation talk in another century. I guess when a wife is not around then a husband can masterbate about her, but a single person is left in a predicament. I can not recall as a single person ever masterbating without sexual stimuli attached to it. I guess in theory it can be done but my guess is that nocturnal emissions would become more normal for the single person who would release that way, most likely during unconscious sexual thoughts in their dreams.
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