Josh Harris discusses the dangers of media and what it means to lop off your hand (Matthew 5:30):

This year I was with C. J. and a group of friends watching the Super Bowl. I don’t think I saw more than two commercials the whole time. C. J. had the remote, and as soon as commercials came on he’d switch to C-SPAN, possibly the safest channel available. Why does he do it? Doesn’t he know how entertaining and interesting the commercials during the Super Bowl can be? Yes, and he also knows how often they use sex to sell their products. He knows that nothing he might miss is worth exposing himself to lustful images. . . .

At times when I’ve traveled and stayed at hotels I have sinned against God by mindlessly surfing through the channels.  I don’t necessarily stop and view something sinful, but I surf by it knowing there’s a good chance something will flash before my eyes.  God has helped me to see my own sinful desire in those moments.  Even though I’m just flipping by, this is an expression of lust.  Because of my poor track record, I’ve made it my habit not to even turn the TV on in a hotel (Josh Harris, Sex is Not the Problem, Lust Is).

Josh Harris shared some of the things he’s learned in the years since he wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye:

I still stand by the message of that book that premature, short-term romantic attachments can be a big distraction from serving God—especially for teenagers. But in the years since I’ve also seen that a legalistic application of these ideas can be unhelpful, too. One of my main concerns in my church or any other church is that there be no disunity among Christians over issues of dating and courtship. We need to learn to hold our own convictions on this matter with charity.

Read the whole thing.

Josh Harris on his decision to quit Facebook for a year:

But even if I weren’t writing a book, I don’t need another reason for staring at a computer screen. I’m constantly needing to evaluate how much time I spend emailing, browsing and blogging. Now obviously a lot of that activity is good, useful work. But sometimes it can be a time-waster. I think God’s been helping me improve at knowing when to unplug from cyberville and connect with the real, rich world of reality–playing with my kids, talking to my wife, taking a walk. Throwing Facebook in the mix of my online options is just a little too much for me right now.

The other reason I feel right about making my time with Facebook just a visit is a little harder to explain. How do I put this? I found that it encouraged me to think about me even more than I already do–which is admittedly already quite a bit. Does that make any sense? Without any help from the internet I’m inclined to give way too much time to evaluating myself, thinking about myself and wondering what other people think of me. If that egocentrism is a little flame, then Facebook for me is a gasoline IV feeding the fire. I need to grow in self-forgetfulness. I need to worry more about what God is thinking of me. I need to be preoccupied with what he’s written in his word, not what somebody just wrote on my “wall.”

And, finally, I need to read more. There are so many good books I want to read and so little time. If I added up the few minutes here and there that I spent checking Facebook this past week it wouldn’t be an insignificant amount of time. I’d rather give that time to reading.

Anyway, all of the above is totally personal and is in no way an indictment on other Facebookers. This is just where I’m at right now. Who knows…I might be back when the kids are grown and the book is written and I have more self-control.

Although I don’t have a Facebook, I still struggle with a lot of these same temptations to waste my life online:  YouTube, weiqi, this blog, maybe even DesiringGod.  I think I’m going to try to take a month, and “unplug from cyberville,” for the sake of joy!

No more posts ’til February.  I’ve been known to go back on these decisions before, so if you see a new post, call me, and encourage me.  Or just write a nasty comment.

HT: Justin Taylor

The Gospel Coalition has overflowed YouTube with clips of Christ-centered answers to some weighty questions.  Check out their channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheGospelCoalition.