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Originally Posted by parable
While I can only speak for myself, the point is that striving to live according to godly principles is not the means to our forgiveness or salvation, but instead the desire to do so is the fruit of the grace we have received, the gratitude we express when we try to be obedient to the law of love. Part of that law is to have compassion, forgiveness and acceptance regardless how well someone lives up to God's standards, including oneself. I note that one need not live an ascetic life, full of denial and suffering, in order to please God.
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Parable, I agree with what you say here, and most of the serious Christian friends I have do strive to live according to those principles. They are outstanding models of the faith and pillars of their church communities, and are some of the most compassionate people I know. They walk the walk, not just talk the talk, out of the gratitude that you express (the fruit of grace). Within that grace, they try very hard to avoid any kind of sexual immorality, whether they are single or married, and I know that for the most part, they succeed. Their self-discipline and surrender of their minds and bodies to Christ is truly beyond belief. They are not hypocrites, even if they are not perfect.
But the hypocrisy I am talking about is not the fact that Christians fail to attain perfection. That is a very clear human trait to me, and needs no further explanation. The kinds of Christians (Muslims, Buddhists, what have you) I respect are people who strive, with as many spiritual/mental/emotional resources as possible, to avoid temptation to whatever their religion says is "sin." And even if they fail, I can respect the fact that they are constantly trying to avoid ensnaring themselves, even if they are not living ascetic lives. I agree with you that denial and suffering are not necessary for pleasing God, and in fact he calls his people to rejoice, to celebrate life, to ENjoy as much as possible. But wouldn't you at least agree that some kind of steady discipline of the self/body/thoughts is necessary, for at least *trying* to grow closer to Christ; to not just follow laws, but to always strive to please God with heart, soul, body, mind? I would say this is one of the centerpieces of the Christian walk, once salvation has been accepted, wouldn't you?
What puzzles and frustrates me, however, is when Christians place themselves right in the middle of temptation to sin, not even *trying* (very hard) to avoid the things that would cause them and others to stumble. They are not fleeing from temptation; they are running headlong into it. I find this kind of behavior very difficult to understand. In my understanding, if one is going to profess to be a Christian and allow one's life to be transformed into that of a witness to Christ, there is just no room for this kind of total indulgence in worldly things. Struggling to overcome it, yes... that, at least, is a form of trying to get the devil behind thee. But to turn *towards* temptation, instead of away from it... now, logically (as a Christian), that just doesn't make sense to me.
For example, does Piper say it's alright to look at pornography? If so, now that would be an interesting read... I'll have to take a look.