47652858Everyday for the last few months, I have received ads in my email inbox that pushed products guaranteed to lengthen my penis. At first I was perplexed. Did somebody know something about my dimensions that I wasn’t aware of? I was relieved to find out that virtually everyone was getting the same ads.

When I brought up this phenomenon with a friend in marketing, he said that the sheer volume of ads for this service indicated that there were people who were buying these products. Spammers may be cads but they are not stupid.

Which leads to the question: why do so many people want to lengthen their penises? Surely everyone knows that sexual satisfaction has more to do with affection and technique than the size of one’s equipment? Does everyone get his or her sex education from porn? There must be more here than meets the eye. I believe there is.

In their book, DRIVEN, Paul R. Lawrence and Nitin Nohria of the Harvard Business School contend that human nature is defined by four drives:

*The drive to acquire *The drive to bond *The drive to learn *The drive to defend

Their approach is purely biological. And the product of many man hours of work. They may have saved themselves some time if they had studied the book of Genesis, especially the first two chapters. The four drives they propose correspond to the following aspects of humanity we see in the Scriptures:

*The need for significance, the end result of acquisition (Made in God’s image.) *The need for relationships (Not good for man to be alone.) *The need to understand God’s creation (Oversee and manage God’s creation.) *The need for security (Garden of Eden.)

All the four primary needs of humankind were predicated on humankind being in a right relationship with their Maker. When that relationship was broken through sin, humankind lost their only true source for significance, relationships, understanding, and security. They now had to seek for these things outside of God. And of course nothing would ever fit the bill.

So what has all this got to do with the desire to have bigger penises? I can see at least two primary drives at work here.

The need for significance. I have a bigger penis. I must be a bigger man than my fellows.

The need for relationships. I have a bigger penis. That makes me a better lover. Therefore I will be more popular with the ladies.

Of course both premises are ridiculous. But I am not laughing. It is another reminder that we all have basic primary needs. And we all gravitate towards things that promise to meet those needs.

Is it anymore ridiculous to think that significance and love comes from using a certain type of: car, perfume, shampoo, brand of clothes?

Everyday, we betray our humanity. And our lostness. We all desire significance, relationships, knowledge, and security. But these desires can never be really fulfilled outside of a relationship with the Living God.

I see the proliferation of penis lengthening ads as yet another reminder of the lostness of humankind. People need the Lord. Really. In a post-modern world where we are warned against religious extremism, let us not be shaken away from our conviction that there is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12). Let us not apologize for our commitment to the evangelistic mandate.

But the proliferation of ads like the penis lengthening ads also remind me of how quickly Christians forget that it is in Christ that we find our deepest needs met. So often, we encounter Christ at conversion and look forward to meeting Him again when we pass from this world. In the meantime we slake our soul needs at other wells. And we wonder why we are as empty and as lost as those who do not know Jesus.

No, I don’t think the greatest need of humankind is for longer penises. But we are crying out for significance, love, true knowledge, and security. We are all crying out for God.

What we really need is to take that road that leads back to the waiting Father.

Your brother, SooInn Tan