The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
August 18, 2002
In
This Issue:
Taking
a Good Look at Cheerleaders
By
Hal Hammons
Of
Pigs and People
By
Steve Klein
Taking a Good Look at Cheerleaders
(no pun intended)
Note: This article was written in reaction to a lawsuit filed by Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders against the NFL. A hole in their locker room wall allowed some players to view them while showering and dressing.
Now, don't get me wrong here. I'm not excusing these grown men who insist upon acting like hormone-charged teenagers. It is inexcusable to invade someone's privacy in the way that is alleged to have happened in the Philadelphia Eagles locker room. Multi-millionaire athletes who can't find any better outlet for their sexual urges than ogling unsuspecting women in the shower, that's pretty sad. But that's not what I want to write about here. I want to write about cheerleaders. And don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming the cheerleaders for this problem any more than I'm saying a rape victim "got what she asked for". These men went out of their way to exploit unsuspecting women, and they alone are responsible for the problem at Veteran's Stadium. But I do wish that women would look at sexual exploitation from the male perspective from time to time.
Cheerleaders can be horrible hypocrites about the way they are viewed. After all, the entire point of their activity, whether it is at the professional, college or high school level, is to turn women into sex objects. They dress in provocative outfits, learn provocative dance moves, and do their dead-level best to catch the attention of every red-blooded male in the audience. And then they have the nerve to act offended when it works.
The same principle applies, of course, to any woman who dresses herself in clothing that is designed (by the manufacturer if not the wearer) to stimulate the sexual urges of men. Whether it's by lowering the neckline, lifting the hemline, or in any other creative way displaying more of a woman's body than is appropriate, designers try to sell clothes that appeal to the basest, crudest elements of men's minds.
Trust us, ladies - these clothes work.
Now, if you are trying to attract the kind of man who will be attracted to that kind of woman, you quite likely will succeed - perhaps with little or no effort. But if you are trying to find a man who is drawn to your character and your mind, you muddy the waters with unqualified applicants when you show off your other "attributes". And you quite likely will run off the very ones for whom you claim to be searching.
-- by Hal Hammons
Anyone who has dealt much with domesticated animals has probably observed the following: Dogs look up to people. Cats look down on people. Only pigs see us as equals. It's rather humbling to think that pigs may be correct in their assessment of us. In many respects, people really are like pigs. Even our anatomies are similar! For instance, the heart valves in pigs are so like ours that surgeons use them as replacement parts for human heart valves. There are thousands of people walking around today with pig parts in their hearts!
Whatever similarities we humans may naturally share with pigs, there at least three ways we should strive to be different from them.
Pigs are Gluttons
I have been told that pigs only overeat if
humans over-feed them. But they certainly do have a reputation for
being gluttonous animals. If we say that somebody "eats
like a pig," or that they "pigged-out" at a
restaurant, we mean that they have over indulged!
In our land of plenteous food and expanding waistlines gluttony is ever a temptation -- and I mean "temptation" in the Biblical sense -- an enticement to commit sin! Yes, gluttony is a sin. It is a failure to control a fleshly appetite. In Titus 1:12-13, the inspired apostle Paul says that "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons" and then he tells Titus to "rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith." Obviously one cannot be "sound in the faith" and be a glutton, any more than one can be "sound in the faith" and be a liar, lazy or an evil beast.
Like other temptations, we must guard against and strive to overcome the temptation to commit gluttony (Matthew 6:13; 1 Corinthians 10:13). If the places we eat or the people with whom we eat are leading us into temptation, we need to make changes. Proverbs 23:20 instructs, "Do not mix with wine-bibbers, or with gluttonous eaters of meat."
Pigs don't control their appetites. God's children must!
Pigs Wash, then Wallow
People do not really sweat like pigs,
because pigs don't sweat. They cool themselves by wallowing in
the mud. Describing Christians who fall back into sin, the
apostle Peter stated that "it would have been better for them
not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to
turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened
to them according to the true proverb: 'A dog returns to his own
vomit,' and, 'a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the
mire'" (2 Peter 2:21-22). When we have been washed clean
by the blood of Jesus, and then return to wallowing in the muck of
the world, we are like pigs. As God's children, we are to be the
sheep of His pasture, not the pigs of His pen. And, as a friend
of mine often says, "sheep don't wallow."
Pigs don't keep themselves clean. God's children must!
Pigs have no Sense of Value
Pigs have no concept of the value of pearls.
In Matthew 7:6 Jesus said, "Do not give what is holy to the
dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under
their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces." When people
show no regard or respect for the Word of God, they are like pigs --
they have no sense of what is truly valuable. Disrespect for
God's word can be shown by lack of interest in it (failing to study,
prepare Bible class lesson, or attend worship). Disregarding
and disobeying what the Word says can also show it. When we
follow the ways of men and listen to the counsel of worldly friends
instead of heeding God's word, we are like pigs.
Pigs don't value God's word. God's children must!
Let us lay aside our hoggish hunger, our swinish sins, and our porcine priorities!
by Steve Klein