A few weeks ago, our Wednesday Evening Bible Study got to the section of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus tells us to tear out our right eyes and cut off our right hands if we use them to lust. Not easy stuff to read:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:27-30)
There is always the question, “Does God really want me to disfigure myself?” The answer, I have to believe, is no. What I mean is, If I pluck out my right eye, I’m still VERY capable of lusting with my left. Same goes for the hands.
So beyond getting our attention, and telling us that he takes the issue of lust very seriously, what else could be behind Jesus’ stern command to pluck and cut? There are undoubtedly any number of opinions about this, but I couldn’t help but think of a short video I saw decades ago by author, speaker, and filmaker, Jean Kilbourne Ed.D.
What I saw was one of four different iterations of her video series, “Killing Us Softly.” That video had a huge impact on me then, and still sticks with me today. Kilbourne spoke about the exploitation and degradation of women in advertising. One point that really got me thinking is that in ads, women are often seen as just parts. The images often don’t show an entire woman, just breasts, or butt, or legs, etc. This “parting out” of a whole person allows us to see her not as a human being, but as a mere object meant for our own pleasure. This is dangerous territory.
In her recent Tedx talk, which I highly recommend, she made a powerful statement: “Women’s bodies are dismembered in ads. Not only dismembered, but insulted.” She went on to say, “When women are objectified, there is always a danger of violence.”
Kilbourne has given me a different perspective on Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount. As she argues against objectifying women, seeing women as mere “parts” and making women more susceptible to violence because of degrading attitudes, in a way she is mirroring Jesus words to his followers – “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away… And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away.”
Is Jesus telling us to consider before we lust, or look at pornographic images, that we are tearing a real person apart in our minds? That before we look at her as mere object or a collection of parts, or make it easier to commit violence upon her, that we should first be willing to see ourselves as an object, to be willing to make ourselves into parts (eyes and hands removed from our bodies), and be willing to subject ourselves to violence (plucking and cutting)?
I’m not sure. But it makes me think about the whole issue in a more personal way. Jesus said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If we can’t stomach the idea of tearing ourselves in to pieces, we shouldn’t do it to someone else, physically or spiritually.