Appetites and Pleasures

 “Above all else, guard your heart.”
Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

I've thought a lot about appetites and pleasure over the last couple of weeks. The authors of Proverbs must have thought a lot about them too. The entire chapter of Proverbs 23 is devoted to controlling our appetites for food, alcohol, sex, riches, possessions, and sleep. None of these appetites is sinful in and of themselves, but left unchecked, each can become a big problem. And right in the middle of Proverbs 23, the writer instructs us to “buy truth; get wisdom, instruction and understanding.” An appetite for truth and wisdom is an appetite that we should cultivate and pursue.

When I first began seriously studying the book of Proverbs in 2010, I came across a Ravi Zacharias sermon that explained some basic pleasure principles.  Through the years that followed, I’ve used these principles in dozens of seminars, classes, and retreats especially in the sessions dealing with controlling our appetites. Here are a few basic pleasure principles:

All pleasure has a price.

All pleasure does not come with a warning label. 

Our pursuit of pleasure must not jeopardize the sacred rights of another. 

Any pleasure, however good, if not kept in balance, will distort reality or destroy appetite. 

We must have wisdom in dealing with that which can so grip our hearts. Not because we need to avoid desire, but because we want to escape enslaving self-destruction. 

The final RZIM independent investigative report on the Ravi Zacharias’ sex abuse scandal has sickened and grieved millions of Christians around the world. I am certainly one of them. But last week as I was teaching this section of our Proverbs Wise Woman’s Bucket List study, I realized that Zacharias’ secret second life and the sexual appetites that controlled him only reinforced, not negated, his pleasure principles teaching.

• All pleasure does indeed have a price.

• Our pursuit of pleasure must not jeopardize the sacred rights of another.

• Any pleasure, however good, if not kept in balance, will distort reality of destroy appetite. And yes, we need wisdom (and obedience) in dealing with that which can so grip our hearts.

Ravi Zacharias’ disgraced downfall didn’t occur because his teaching or God’s Word was wrong. It happened because Zacharias failed to guard his heart. Much like King Solomon, the wisest man in the world, Zacharias knew all too well the right thing to do; he just failed to do it. As a result, his witness, legacy, and ministry are ruined. Ravi Zacharias’ wife, children, colleagues, employees, victims, and Christ’s Church are paying the price for his illegitimate pleasure and unfaithfulness. Enslaved by his sexual appetite, he self-destructed.

God’s Word works. It works when we obey it and it works when we don’t. Either way, God’s Word works and He will have the final word. Oh, that we would “only take heed to ourselves and keep our souls diligently.” (Deuteronomy 4:9) If it could happen to Ravi Zacharias, it could happen to any of us. May we all look ahead and count both the costs and consequences of our appetites and pleasures. All pleasure has a price.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)