A groundswell is coming.
If you’ve been in a body of believers—a real community with
vulnerability, honesty, and confession—than you’ve probably seen the
truth. Christ’s bride has an addiction
problem. It’s not alcohol. It’s not smoking. It’s pornography.
In the minute or two it takes to read this article, over
30,000 people have been watching pornography online.
And a portion of the people with whom you worship on Sunday are the ones
doing the watching—and, in some cases, creating. Porn has become ubiquitous. Any teenager with
a smartphone can access an unlimited amount of erotic material, and for the first
time since the 1970’s, a blatantly pornographic work has become a normalized
part of the cultural zeitgeist.
The problem is that our congregations are terribly ill-equipped
to handle not only the shifting paradigm of pornographic presence but also the
use of pornography by members who have developed an actual, physiological
attachment to porn.
Those who began watching porn at puberty, for example, have
quite literally hardwired themselves to need porn. Whether it’s for release
from stress or for simple escapism, congregants across the country are finding
themselves emotionally attached to pornography and masturbation.
I’m saying this not only as an observer but a former participant. I
am one of the individuals I mentioned—or at least I was, from the age of 13 to
the age of 28, I was addicted to pornography. I ran to it if rejected, exhausted,
or even bored. As I developed
emotionally, pornography became a dangerous tool to cope with difficulties and
stressors in life. Like so many men in my generation, the addiction started
with sneaking magazines or videos taped from premium cable. Then the internet
hit and every changed; access got faster and things got worse.
I went to a Christian university, and the number of men
whose stories echo my own are staggering. What’s worse, many men have gone
further. Strip clubs, prostitution, and other illicit activities pepper the
history of many men who simply did not have the tools with which to engage this
world affectively.
People are hurting. They always have, and they always will, and
porn is a numbing agent, not a cure, that is constantly self-prescribed by
people who simply don’t know the cost of their placebo. It’s lasting, long term
effects are far more painful than we tend to see (or believe).
Many online ministries have been developed to combat this
issue, and a few with which I’ve had a distinct pleasure of working are listed
below, as resources, not only for those who struggle but those in leadership in
need of tools and resources to help facilitate discussion and bring this topic
to the forefront of their congregations.
Intentional Warriors (Interview with Founder James Cordrey)
If this conversation doesn’t change, things will get worse.
The life you change may be the one you’d least expect.
PS - My Novel, Stronghold
, also speaks to this issue in a unique way! You may find it worth a read this summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment