by Mike James

You have probably heard the famous refrain from the story The Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” This phrase fits perfectly into the use of technology in our world today. Technology has done great good for society. One obvious example is more ways to communicate with people. Facebook is one example where people can keep track of their friends’ and relatives’ lives in a greater degree. But we could also argue that the time used to put up and read content on Facebook could be better utilized.

Another example of good from technology is the ability for the message of the gospel to be put out into the world anywhere there is an internet connection. Access to various Bible translations, dictionaries, and commentaries is helpful. But on the other hand, the internet also gives false prophets and false teachers a platform and greater exposure than ever before. Many people are being led astray by false doctrine online.

I recently read a long article in The Washington Post that brings another issue to the forefront. The article addressed a content provider on the OnlyFans website. This is a website where chefs, fitness trainers, and musicians can receive payment from their “fans” for their music, recipes, or personal training sessions. But the website is primarily used by content providers providing personal pornographic content.

The website got its start with two brothers in the United Kingdom in 2016. Tim Stokely, one of the brothers, was a London-based operator of live-camera sex sites. The United States makes up a large portion of the creator base and about 70 percent of the company’s annual revenue.

OnlyFans has over 3 million content providers from around the world (most in the United States) with about 230 million subscribers paying for the content. In 2019 the company made $238 million which grew to $5.5 billion last year. The numbers indicate this business model is growing in influence.

I found a few interesting quotes in the article that make me wonder where our culture is heading. One quote was by the mother of one of the very successful (monetarily speaking) content providers. When asked about her daughter’s line of work the mother said, “The world has changed so much…but she’s an adult. She has to do what makes her wheels move, what she finds fulfilling, when you’re a parent, you want to support your child. And that’s what I do.”

What is mom supporting her daughter in doing? Well, if you read the article, it is clear this young woman is having sex on camera with her boyfriend and other partners. She is also promoting similar content for other people working for her. That sex (videos and photos) is then being sold to people online for money.

Yes, the mother is correct, the world has certainly changed. With the capabilities of technology, we now have many more opportunities to make bad decisions. Without technology, many people participating in this would never have chosen this path.

And the bad decisions lead to bad values. The content provider and her team addressed jealousy issues which came up due to having sex with someone else’s partner. The issues were resolved with “more communication, more growing up.” These people think being grown up is being able to share sexual partners. Obviously, the world is upside down because, in the Bible, God has jealousy about His marriage to Israel due to their adultery with other gods (Exodus 20:5-6). Being grown up from a biblical perspective is understanding you should have one sexual partner for life.

Another quote came from a 20-year-old woman who works for the content provider mentioned above. She said, “This is normal for my generation, you know? I can go on TikTok right now and see 10 girls wearing the bare minimum of clothing just to get people to join their page. Why not go the extra step to make money off it?”

This same 20-year-old woman made $150,000 in two months as the head of advertising for the content provider mentioned above and from her own OnlyFans account.

And that is another problem. The ability for some to make lots of money with this type of work. Our culture promotes the idea of success as having money and things. This is not success in the biblical sense.

Success in the biblical sense is addressed in Matthew 6:33. Seeking first God’s Kingdom and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS will lead to the only lasting success (eternal life) we can have. The righteousness spoken of here is addressed in the law of God. The principles and values in God’s law define what righteousness is (Psalm 119:105-106).

The Bible makes it clear sex should not be with multiple partners (Matthew 19:1-12). Sex should not be promoted or displayed for others (Matthew 5:27-28). Sex is between a man and a woman in a married relationship. Times may have changed, but that does not mean we should. We need to stay grounded in biblical principles and not the principles and values being promoted today.

Sources: “An OnlyFans Empire: Sex, Influence and the New American Dream,” by Drew Harwell, The Washington Post, November 11, 2023

“OnlyFans,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnlyFans