Lust is a demand for a finite thing to provide what only the infinite can actually provide. God has placed eternity in our hearts (Ecc. 3:11, ESV), and that God-shaped vacuum — to use Pascal’s phrase for it — can only be filled by the infinite torrential waterfall that is the triune God. He is a waterfall with no top, no bottom, no sides, no back, and no front, but only and always eternally cascading love.
So what does this have to do with the front page of my iTunes store? If you are like me, you have been recently confronted there with an image of Lady Gaga, striking quite a pose, being as outlandishy as she can be. But the most impressive thing about this to me is the sheer finitude of that outlandishness. I mean, you can only put so much eye make-up on, even if you use a spatula, and then, there you are, the world’s most decadent and voluptuous raccoon.
To change the metaphor, you pick up a wet dishrag, soaked through with your outlandishness, and you twist it and twist it, and when you are done — finite creature! — you only have enough outlandishness to fill a medium-sized saucepan.
Try something else! Faster, faster! I know, a meat dress! Wait, wait . . . comb your hair funny!
You know what this kind of outré rebellion is? It is craning your neck back as far as it can go in order to express your contempt for the heavens by spitting at the nearest crab nebula. Let me know how it goes.