Oh to the struggle of sin in the believer's life. It is something that one who is pursuing Christ can and does encounter on a daily basis. It simply cannot be escaped. Rather, it seemingly finds us with the intentions from its leader, Satan, to kill, steal, and destroy (see John 10:10). Perhaps one issue that is not discussed very often is the sin struggle of masturbation. The issue of masturbation is the act of pleasuring oneself sexually typically in an attempt to appease stress or just for the sake of pleasure. In the Christian worldview though, there are several positions in relation to masturbation. An attempt to give an synopsis about the positions respectfully will be given below.
Relating to masturbation, there are several positions that are seen among Christians. Those are the following: it is a genuine sin struggle and should be dealt with accordingly, it is not a sin struggle, and the sole action of masturbating is not a sin.
Sin Struggle Accompanied with Action
This is the position that is most seen in Christians and what this writer will advocate for. Although Scripture does not specifically speak to the act of masturbating it can be understood to be a genuine sin issue with the baggage that accompanies masturbation in people's minds. When one is masturbating, one's mind will nine times out of ten wonder in pursuit of a stimulating fantasy of the sexual nature. This will find the man in a position of committing lust and adultery against another physically real person or a fictional depiction of a perfect person to have a satisfying sexual escapade with. Thus, this is the focal point of the argument.
Some that hold to this position will also attempt to find and excerpt from a biblical text to add a nuance to their argument in a hope of better justifying it. The "stock" passage that is typically jumped to is seen in the Old Testament in Genesis 38:9-10 regarding Onan and his brother's wife Er. The passage reads as follows (from the ESV)
"But, Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother's wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also."
To better understand the passage requires a brief explanation of the context. Earlier in the passage, Onan is commanded to take his brother's wife and to have a child with her following his death. This was a command given by God through Judah. However, Onan thought that this was not a good thing and chose not to have a child with Er's wife. During this cultural period, for a male to lay in bed and masturbate with his wife or lover was not a typical practice. The practice that could have been done here is commonly referred to as the "pull out" method in which the guy removes himself from the female in an effort to orgasim outside of her body thus lowering the risk of pregnancy. This does make sense with the reading of this passage when it says "...waste the semen on the ground..."
Following this explanation, it is clear to see that the practice of masturbation was not likely what was taking place in this passage. The conclusion we can make is that this passage is not specifically discussing masturbation. There are other passages in which people attempt to Christianize their case against masturbation in which they take the passage out of context. Such other passages will not be discussed for the sake of cohesiveness of this entry. More about the dealing with the issue aspect of this position will be discussed later.
The second position that is commonly held amongst Christians is that masturbation is not a sin struggle whatsoever. Most believers who hold to this position make the case that masturbation is not coheriently discussed in Scripture and is a "grey area." Bearing this in mind, people that hold to this position say that such things are not regulated by Scripture and could potentially not be classified as a sin in the eyes of God.
This is a position that this writer highly disagrees with. As a guy who can attest to this sin struggle, the difficultly to masturbate while not fantasizing about a particular person for the purpose of sexual pleasure is very difficult and seemingly impossible. Thinking about something other than the objectification of a person is possible per se. However, thinking of an inamment object while masturbating seems to be impossible since our mental capacities are longing for a form of sexual fulfillment. This argumentation at the end of the day thus appears to be a large fallacy and attempts to bring peace to the wrestling sinner's mind longing for justification to masturbate.
Sole Action of Masturbating is not a Sin
Out of the three possible positions, this one seems to be the next logical one. Yet, it does have pitfalls as well. Referring back to the "grey area" seen in previous discussion, Christians who hold to this attempt to say that masturbating itself is not wrong. Rather, it is the thought processes that occur which is the sin element of the issue surrounding masturbation. This writer thus agrees in that regard. Yet, the act of seeking after physical pleasure rather than taking that allocated time and energy to seek after God seems to be idolizing the fulfillment of physical pleasure. Hence, one can be committing an act which does not bring glory to God but rather glory to oneself. Scriptural foundation for this though cannot be given, but can be drawn from several passages which discusses how people sought out fulfillment in physical pleasure and even idolized the practice in which God proclaims the dishonest nature of their seeking. Perhaps one passage that can be used to debunk this position can be seen in Ecclesiastes 1 in which the Preacher states that any and all things that do not bring glory to God is vanity or pointless.
No matter one's position on this issue, it is clear that it is an action in which seems really difficult to justify how it brings glory to God. So, how can one rid this issue or sin issue from their life? Perhaps the first step is confession. Confessing your erroneous way to the Lord and seeking forgiveness from Him should be one's first priority. The next step in confession should be confessing unto other believers for the sake of accountability. Being held accountable in relation to issue is crucial for overcoming the problem. The only way to rid this addicting habit from one's life is to shine as much attention and light on the issue as possible. It should also be noted that such information should only be confessed in an appropriate context.
Discipline is another way in which one can overcome masturbation. The form of discipline being discussed here though is Spiritual disciplines. Whether it is fasting, silence, solitude, prayer, or any other discipline if we do them with the sole intention of growing closer to our Lord and Savior then He will honor such longings.
Something bigger than just these forms of physical action must be realized by the believer whom is struggling with masturbation. That is this: Jesus Christ died for this sin. Our guilt that we may feel following the fulfillment of our sexually, pleasure driven escapade can fool us into thinking that we cannot nor should we bring this before the Lord. This could not be any further from the truth though. The good news that we can have hope in is that the atonement for which God sent Christ can and does cover masturbation or any other sexual sin. Even better still, Christ's atoning sacrifice covers any and all sins thus imputing us with forgiving grace!!!!!! This should bring about rejoicing! This causes the believer to rest in knowing that Christ is omnipotent and can give us that same strength to overcome such a struggle.