Quick question, should followers of Jesus be more concerned with the sexual practices of Christians or non-Christians? The answer is easy, but it seems we talk a lot more about the ever-changing sexual landscape of today’s culture then we talk about was is happening within the church walls.
Is that because this is something Christians are immune to? Of course not. In fact, Christians have some real issues that need to be dealt because the ramifications could damage the church for generations. Porn is the churches dirty little secret that we need to talk about.
Most of us know how damaging porn can be, but we don’t really understand just how big of a problem it is within the church. Let’s be clear, porn kills love. Porn is in no ways harmless, and recently, the news broke that many of the major porn websites host material that shows the clear physical and emotional rape and abuse of minors and other women.
Porn kills love, destroys marriages and ruins lives. We also know that it rewires the brain like a drug and can have lasting effects on a person’s physical ability to have healthy sexual relationships.
This is not something that only a few Christians struggle with. According to the Barna research group 68 percent of Christian men view porn regularly. Even 50 percent of pastors view porn regularly. This doesn’t mean that this is just an issue for guys to deal with. The number of women who watch porn has been on the rise for years. Among women under the age of 25, 33 percent of them view porn regularly. Even among married couples 55 percent of men and 33 percent of women say the search for porn at least once a month.
Many years ago, I was at a Christian youth pastor conference and a piece of paper was slid under the door of each room. Entire floors had been reserved for pastors during the conference, and these flyers pointed out that the number of pornographic movies watched in hotel rooms skyrocketed during Christian conferences. This tells me that this problem should be something we talk about on a regular basis. More than 55 percent of divorcees say that pornography played a role in the decision to end their marriage.
What can we do to start battling this more honestly? First thing I would suggest is that if you have a porn issue you need to talk to someone about it. Taking these secrets out of the dark is the first step in breaking the chains. Secondly, use some accountability software like Covenant Eyes, so that you have other people to help you fight this battle.
Lastly, protect your children from being able to view pornography. Cell phones give young adults access to the dangerous drug that is pornography, and that average kid first sees it around the age of 11. Your kids do not need a cellphone in their rooms at night.
We must be diligent to battle this issue. We need to talk about it from the pulpit, offer resources for those struggling and treat it like any other addiction. The family structure is too important to continue to allow porn to destroy lives.
Most women who are involved in creating pornography come from sexual abuse situations. This means that people are taking pleasure in the pain of others in order to fulfill temporary urges. Pornography is a prison from which Jesus can set us free.
