Ever heard of Ron Fontana? Actually, I hope not. “Fontana” is the screen name for porn star Ronald Boyer. But good news: Boyer recently decided to leave the porn industry. Boyer says that he is returning to his spiritual roots and plans to become an Episcopal priest.
Bob WeathersAttaboy, we say. We’re behind you!
Well, not so fast. Boyer seems strangely ambivalent about his departure from the porn industry. “Is pornography a sin?” he asked rhetorically on national radio. “Probably. Definitely. So is eating carrot cake until you’re sick to your stomach.” And, according to the New York Times, he attributed his decision to weariness. He was just tired of performing in sex flicks. He was not motivated by any aspiration of holiness. In fact, in a glaring demonstration of biblical ignorance, he claimed, “Not one time did Jesus refer to pornography – .” (See Matthew 5:32 and 15:19. As in Paul’s letters, the phrase “sexual immorality” is a translation of the Greek word porneia.) And, perhaps even more disturbing, Boyer affirmed, “I love sex. I love performing. And I could go back and do it again.”
I sincerely hope that Boyer’s conversion is genuine. And time will tell. But he lacks a significant ingredient in a true conversion: repentance. In the Bible, to “repent” is to change your mind, to stop thinking your way and start thinking God’s way. Clearly, Boyer has done no such thing. The truth is, far from renouncing his sinful lifestyle, he strives to justify it.
If repentance is real, we would never say, “I could go back and do it again.” Instead, we abhor what we were like before. We flee far and fast from the sin of the past, and run in the direction God is going.
And you and I must be wary of the same fallacy, that we can please God and fight sin if we have never repented. Have you truly turned your back on the sin of your past? If not, that might be why you keep struggling with the same old sin.
Since Mr. Boyer is so interested in the words of Jesus, maybe he should go back and read Jesus’ first sermon. “Repent and believe the good news!” Let’s be sure we get it in the right order.