Is it a sin for Christians to watch strippers or go to a strip club?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Yes, it is a sin for Christians to watch strippers or go to a strip club. Strip clubs exist to promote lust, sensuality, perversion, and sexual immorality. They promote a view of humans as sex objects for self-gratification and laud sexuality as a god. Humans are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Sex is intended as a beautiful act between a husband and wife in the one-flesh covenant bond of marriage (Genesis 2:24–25; Hebrews 13:4). Marriage depicts God’s relationship with His people (Ezekiel 16; Ephesians 5:25–32; Revelation 19:6–10; 21:2). To use sexuality for one’s own pleasure—particularly at the expense of others—is to completely miss the point, pervert God’s good gift, sully the image, harm others, and harm oneself (1 Corinthians 6:18). God calls Christians to live in holiness (Leviticus 19:2; Hebrews 13:4). He also calls them to love others with His love (John 13:34–35). The Bible calls believers to avoid lustful actions and to guard their hearts (Psalm 101:3, Proverbs 4:23). Jesus teaches that even looking at someone with lust is equivalent to adultery in the heart (Matthew 5:28). Strip clubs, which reduce people to sexuality and encourage lust (and often other sexual immorality), are incompatible with a Christ-centered life. God calls Christians to live in holiness (Leviticus 19:2; Hebrews 13:4). Rather than seeking what we can "get away with," Christians are encouraged to focus on what is pure, noble, and good (Philippians 4:8).

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• Genesis 1:27 says that humans are made in God’s image (cf. Genesis 9:6). Strip clubs often present humans as sex objects, not people created by God and of inestimable worth in His sight (Psalm 139).
• Sexual activity is designed for the one-flesh, covenant bond of marriage between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24–25). It is meant to be a giving of oneself to the other in a bond of trust and unity. Strip clubs seek to use sexuality in ways that pervert this design.
• "I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless" (Psalm 101:3). Engaging in activities that focus on lust or objectification is setting one’s eyes on things that may pull us away from a godly mindset.
• Proverbs 4:23 says: "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Guarding the heart means making choices that lead to purity and spiritual health, rather than indulging in activities that could lead to lustful or objectifying thoughts.
• Proverbs 6:25–29 warns about the dangers of lust: "Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life."
• Job’s statement in Job 31:1 illustrates a commitment to purity in what he allows his eyes to gaze on.
• Proverbs 7:6–27 warns against the seduction of an "adulterous woman" and the dangers of following paths that can lead to destruction. While not directly related to strip clubs, it emphasizes the importance of avoiding sexual immorality.
• God calls His people to holiness: “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy" (Leviticus 19:2). This call to holiness encompasses every area of life.
• God calls His people to love of others: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:18). Generally speaking, those viewing strippers are not taking the strippers’ general welfare into consideration.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Jesus said, "I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28). Watching strippers is a sin.
• We are often faced with the temptation of satisfying the desires of what Romans 8 calls the flesh—our selfish wants. But the end of living according to the flesh is death: "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace" (Romans 8:6). Going to a strip club is living according to the flesh.
• First John 2:16 warns against “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life.” These things are worldly and not of God. “And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).
• Sex is a gift from God that He intends to have us enjoy within marriage (Hebrews 13:4; 1 Corinthians 6:18). When we attempt to satisfy our sexual desires outside of marriage, that is sin. Strip clubs offer sexual enjoyment outside of marriage, which is sin (1 Corinthians 6:9; Matthew 19:6).
• Jesus told His followers to love others as He loved them (John 13:34–35). First John 4:11–12 says, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” Christians are called to love. There is nothing loving about viewing a strip show—either for those in the show or for the people in one’s life outside of the strip club.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

The Bible tells us that each person has missed the intention God has for us by sinning (Genesis 3:11; Romans 3:23; 5:12) and the punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23). When questions arise about whether a particular activity is sin, we are often looking for a set of rules. Sometimes we think that if we can keep the rules well enough we'll earn God's favor. And, though God establishes His expectations about our behavior, our relationship with Him does not depend upon our adherence to rules.

Our relationship with God rests on our trust in what Jesus did on the cross—died for our sins to make us right with God (1 John 1:7; Titus 3:5). It is by God's grace that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8–10). We are also made new (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21; Colossians 1:10) and our desires begin to bend toward wanting to please God. Our aim shifts from wondering about offending God or trying to earn His favor by avoiding certain sins, to wanting to live a life that pleases Him. We come to desire to live a pure, righteous, even holy life (Matthew 5:8; 1 Peter 1:15–16). Rather than simply avoid that which is bad, we seek after that which is good. As Christians, we are accepted by God and that acceptance births in us a desire to honor Him (1 John 3:1, 9–10; Philippians 2:15).

So, when we ask if it is a sin to go to a strip club or watch strippers, the answer is yes. But instead of looking for a list of sins, as Christians, our primary focus should begin to shift to activities that please God (Philippians 4:8).

UNDERSTAND

• Strip clubs and watching strippers is a sin because it devalues others, misunderstands God’s design of sex, and encourages lust and sexual immorality.
• God created and reserved sex for marriage between one man and one woman.
• God calls us to be holy in both our thoughts and actions.

REFLECT

• How can you seek purity and holiness instead of fulfilling the lust of the flesh?
• How does Jesus' teaching on purity in thought and heart (Matthew 5:28) shape your perspective on places that promote lustful thinking and actions?
• How can you actively guard your heart and mind to align your life with God’s call to holiness?

ENGAGE

• How might avoiding environments that promote lust, such as strip clubs, impact our spiritual growth and relationship with God? How might we encourage others to similarly avoid temptation?
• What does the Bible’s emphasis on purity and self-control teach us about God’s vision for our lives and relationships?
• How can we view others as God does and seek to treat them with His love? How can we support one another in pursuing truth, holiness, and wholeness for those in our community?