Pornography is poison. But is the church the antidote?
By now, we’ve seen how pornography tragically affects lives. But what is the church doing to help the affected? In the evangelical sphere, we don’t even attempt to raise awareness in our congregations on how to handle addictions or the aftereffects of porn.
As the culture continues to drift from biblical values and the porn industry continues to expand its influence and devastation (as noted in my previous blogs) the church cannot afford to allow sex to remain a “taboo” subject either for sermon or Sunday School material.
The church is quick to talk about heaven, hell, and grace (which it should). However, it is guilty of remaining silent about "secret sexual sins" which are inwardly destroying families and life as we know it.
We don’t talk about how we’re losing our children.
We don’t mention the women and girls trapped in human trafficking.
We don’t seem to care about the battle of the mind and values.
They say if you give Satan an inch, he’ll take a mile. By refusing to address these sins from the pulpit, the church is giving the enemy his heart’s desire.
Pornography doesn’t have to search out its victim. The victims are searching it out and giving themselves over to it. People in the pew are hopelessly struggling and needing a message of freedom. The Conquer Series research claims, “68% of Christian men and 50% of pastors view pornography regularly. But even more shocking is that 11-17-year-old boys reported being its greatest users.” They also say, "The Church is in the sexual battle of its life. As these boys become adults, the Church will be flooded with porn addicts.”
If our pastors won't preach a sermon about the allure and sin of pornography, will they be able to minister to the generations fueled by pornography since childhood? Or are they just going to allow this and future generations to remain in satanic bondage?
Some churches claim to be a hospital for the broken but shudder at the idea of preaching the truth of destruction on a Sunday morning. They find themselves saying phrases like, "We'll have men's conferences for that topic" or "We'll start an accountability group." What if a woman is struggling with pornography? What about children who have been trapped in its leery chains? Do they get a conference too?
Satan is sly. He knows that fearful pastors means enslaved parishioners. By being too cowardly to address the real issue, we've giving Satan leeway and giving up the righteous fight to restore the minds of our brothers and sisters.
Mike Genung says it best, “To reach the sexually broken in our churches, we need to provide answers in a Sunday morning service. You can offer a men’s retreat or seminar on the topic, but if you don’t go for it in front of the congregation many who desperately need to hear your message of hope will miss out. Those who struggle with porn or sex addiction are trapped in shame and isolation, so the idea of going to a 'let’s deal with porn' men’s retreat’ will be too intimidating for many. We have to reach them where they are, which means your best shot is at church on Sunday morning.”
When pastors refrain from preaching a message of freedom from pornography, the addicts remain hopeless. They need to be met where they are, and for most, that is the church pew. Christians and pastors shouldn’t fear “taboo” topics such as pornography. Instead, we must fight for the safety of our marriages, families, and youth.
It’s time to take a stand, church.
It’s time to put Satan in his place.
It’s time to win the battle.
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away (Isaiah 64:6).
