July 30, 2011
Here we go. This is the first post of my new blog. I plan to answer the most frequently asked questions I get when I'm out speaking on sexual addiction.
Question: What is Sobriety?
Lately, we have been using the acronym MAP to define sobriety. M stands for masturbation. This is a controversial question in the recovery community as some would consider that masturbation is OK for all or at least for single men. I have always felt that for an addict it is never a good idea as it usually leads to neurochemical tolerance in the brain and that will cause the habit to escalate over time. For a more thorough answer to the question of whether or not masturbation is sinful or morall appropriate, go to our website at http://www.faithfulandtrueministries/ and click on the resources tab and then on the articles tab.
The A stands for adultery. By that we mean both emotional and physical adultery. Many men that I work with get involved first with women and share emotional intimacy with them that they are not with their wives. We also consider that looking lustfully at women, especially in terms of pornography is adultery. Jesus talks about looking at a woman with lust in your heart in Matt. 5.
The P stands for pornography in all of its forms, magazines, DVDs, and most prevalently on the Internet.
It is always best to keep things simple and thorough. When an addict says he is MAP sober, others will automatically know what he means. Let me know what you think.
Mark
Mark, I have used the MAP definition of sobriety since leaving F&T's workshop in April of 2010, but I wonder somewhat about how you've defined "A" here for adultery. Although I agree that Jesus' statement about lusting in the heart is the same as committing adultery in our heart, how realistic is it to expect a recovering sex addict to never lust in his heart again? I know that recovery is deeper than mere actions, and I'm learning myself that a sobriety that stops at the letter of the law is in danger, and yet should an addict truly consider themselves to have broken sobriety if they have lusted in their heart?
ReplyDelete