If we call ourselves Reformed, then we do not admire the courage of our fathers and then cower before Netflix, leggings culture, and TikTok. We obey Christ, we mortify the flesh, we dress with dignity, we look away from temptation, we choose holy entertainment, and we stand guard over our imagination. The command is clear. The question is whether we will bow to it.

Introduction

Every age in church history has faced its own enemies. Some have been loud, obvious, and violent; others have crept in quietly and done far more damage by rotting faith from the inside. Today, one of the most destructive sins silently weakening Christ’s Church is pornography.

This is not a problem “out there in the world.” It has settled into the pews and, at times, even into pulpits. Many sincere Christians, who love their Bibles and believe sound doctrine, are fighting private battles that are draining their strength and dulling their joy. Shame silences them. Fear isolates them. Sin thrives in that silence and secrecy.

Pornography has stolen confidence in prayer. It has strained marriages, robbed men of spiritual backbone, weighed down women with insecurity and bitterness, and choked the spiritual vitality of homes. It has taken courage from fathers, tenderness from husbands, leadership from elders, and peace from families. Worse, many believers feel they cannot speak about it without being crushed by shame, so they suffer alone.

As pastors, elders, husbands, and fathers, we do not have permission to look away. Christ calls His people to holiness in public and in private. He commands His Church to expose and destroy hidden sin, not normalize or ignore it. The Reformed tradition has never treated sexual sin lightly, and neither has Scripture. The God who justifies also sanctifies. The Spirit who saves also purifies. And Christ, who bought His bride with His own blood, intends for her to walk in light.

This article is not written to condemn repentant sinners, but to remind us who we are in Christ and the life He has commanded us to pursue. Scripture is our final authority, and it speaks clearly here. Our Reformed fathers understood that truth and wrote with clarity and courage on this matter. We follow Scripture first and gladly listen to the confessions where they faithfully echo it. What follows is a return to that clarity. We will look to the Word of God and the historic witness of the Church, so that we may reject the world’s lies, embrace holiness, and fight for purity together.

The Westminster Larger on Lust

The Westminster divines did not treat the Seventh Commandment as a fence around one sin. They saw it as God’s call to a disciplined life, where purity is guarded long before the body falls. The Larger Catechism requires “chastity in body, mind, affections, words, and behavior,” and commands “watchfulness over the eyes and all the senses” and “the preservation of chastity in ourselves and others.” Westminster does not allow Christians to imagine that holiness is something that simply happens to them. It demands vigilance, labor, and self-denial.

Lust does not begin when a man opens pornography at 1:00 a.m. It begins when he lets his eyes linger on a woman at the gym whose leggings cling so tightly that every curve of her body is exposed. It begins when he watches a show that parades fornication as romance and treats adultery as excitement, and tells himself he can “filter it out.” It begins when he scrolls through TikTok and Instagram, watching women dance in ways designed to stir sexual desire, and dismisses his hunger as curiosity or stress relief. It begins when he sees a woman in a crop top or low-cut blouse that deliberately displays her breasts and chooses to look again. It begins in every moment he feeds imagination instead of mortifying it.

And lust does not belong to men alone. Westminster binds women to holiness with the same seriousness. A woman who chooses leggings that reveal every contour of her thighs, hips, and backside is not practicing Christian modesty; she is dressing for attention. A woman who wears a dress cut low over her breasts and then pretends she is unaware of the effect is lying to herself and sinning against her brothers. A woman who posts photos online with angles meant to accentuate her figure, or who dances in a way that moves her body as sexual bait, is not free—she is helping stir lust in men and dishonoring Christ. “I have the right to wear what I want” is not the voice of Christian liberty, but the voice of feminism catechizing the church.

The Catechism forbids “unchaste looks,” “immodest apparel,” “lascivious songs,” and “wanton looks.” In our day, that means you cannot claim to love purity while watching shows where actors remove their clothes for the camera, even if “everyone says it’s a great story.” You cannot claim purity while listening to music that celebrates fornication, mocks marital faithfulness, and turns women into bodies instead of souls. You cannot claim purity while participating in dancing that presses bodies together and simulates sexual rhythm outside of marriage. You cannot claim purity while laughing at crude jokes, following sexualized creators, or consuming entertainment that treats sin as humor or pleasure.

The Westminster divines were not prudes. They were not embarrassed by the human body or afraid of desire. They simply understood Scripture: temptation thrives where discipline dies. Imagination collapses before the body falls. Men and women fall into great sin because they first refused to fight small ones. They did not toy with sin or see how close they could get. They drew lines, guarded senses, restrained impulses, and built habits of obedience. They believed that holiness does not happen by accident, and compromise does not stay small.

Today, Christians excuse the very behaviors Westminster condemns. They binge-watch sexual content and call it “entertainment.” They scroll lust-bait and call it “social media.” They dress provocatively and call it “confidence.” They play with fire and then weep when they are burned. But God is not mocked. When the eyes are undisciplined, the heart will follow.

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