By Tony Steward
If half the men in your church lost their jobs, how would you respond? If women were experiencing miscarriages at a rapidly increasing rate, would you start to ask questions? What if 90% of the youth in your church were exposed to a deadly virus?
Hopefully, the above situations will never come true but they do give you a sense of how heavily pornography now saturates our lives and churches. Some recent statistics --
- 53% of Christian men consume pornography.
- 17% (and rapidly increasing) of all women struggle with pornography addiction.
- 90% of 8-16 year olds have viewed porn online (most while doing homework).
People who counsel for sexual and pornography addiction note we’ve reached the 40-year mark of pornography’s availability in our homes. Starting in the 1970s with VHS tapes, and in the 1990s with the Internet, the easy availability and exposure of pornography has influenced an entire generation’s adolescence, dating, and marriages.
In church settings, many of us have discussed pornography from the pulpit or offered events like Porn Sunday (XXXChurch.com) to teach people about the dangers of sexual sin -- and to explain how to find recovery. But, for those in your congregation who have a problem (man or woman), is there a safe place for them to find help?
Every week, the Church Online team at LifeChurch.tv connects with people who are dealing with sexual addiction. Many find safety in the distance or in the anonymity of online ministry, and feel like they can finally let their guard down. For me, the most surprising group of people we connect with are pastors who are trapped in pornography addiction and haven’t had been able to find a safe place to confess and receive prayer.
These interactions, and the overwhelming presence of sexual issues in people we connect with, helped us realize the need to specifically address the real-life effects of pornography, both as an event and in long-term opportunities for care.
For additional resources for your church, visit http://xxxchurch.com/.