3 Things About Porn You Won't Hear in Church
As pornography becomes more and more normalized in American culture, the church as a whole is starting to realize that this is no longer an issue to be ignored. That's great news! Back when we started XXXchurch, we couldn't get churches even to acknowledge the power of porn, let alone talk about it in church!
But even as churches become more open to speaking about this issue, there are still some things you can't count on hearing from the pulpit.
Here are three things the church won't teach you about porn.
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1. It's becoming more culturally acceptable, especially among young people.
Okay, maybe you might hear about this in conjunction with a long rant about our culture's declining morals, but it's highly unlikely that your church will let you know just how acceptable pornography is becoming in American society.
A recent, in-depth survey by the Barna group has revealed that porn use is on the rise among teenagers and young adults, and that it is less and less seen as morally wrong to use porn. In fact, among the young people surveyed, only 32% said that viewing porn was "usually or always wrong." Compare that to the percentage of those who felt the same way about not recycling: 56%!
This may be tough to admit, but attitudes about pornography are shifting, even among those in the church.
2. Plenty of the people next to you in the pews are struggling with it.
But that doesn't mean everyone in church is all fine and dandy with using porn. In fact, there are plenty of your fellow churchgoers who struggle with porn, though you may never know it because they would never admit it.
These are the kinds of things that get admitted on anonymous surveys but that don't tend to come up at the latest potluck. No, while many people are starting to own up to their struggles with porn, there are still plenty of those who are keeping their struggles to themselves.
Because even though the church has made in-roads into becoming safe places for people to admit their weaknesses and failings, there are still far too many in the church who feel like they must keep their "happy faces" firmly in place.
Sadly, even though most churches are aware of the breadth of the porn problem in their pews, very few churches have any formal ministries or programs in place to help their members deal with their porn problem and find freedom from it.
3. A shocking percentage of the people on stage struggle with it.
Once more we turn to the Barna survey, which shows that the majority of pastors (57%) and youth pastors (64%) have struggled with porn either in the past or currently. Those who do struggle with porn say it negatively affects their ministry, probably because 55% of those pastors say "they live in constant fear of being discovered."
The fact of the matter is, your pastor is more than likely someone who is currently struggling with porn or who has had an issue with porn in the recent past. This can make them understandably less likely to talk about it, but hopefully this fact can also give you grace for them and for yourself if you're someone who struggles with it!
One thing the church at large loves to talk about is victory, but we'd prefer to see the church start talking about lasting freedom, something that is available to everyone, whether they're in the pulpit or the pews. They can start with My Pilgrimage, a groundbreaking way of thinking about pornography that will change the church, the world, and you.
Porn is here. It's growing, but it doesn't have to. It's time for the church to get the word out.
Originally posted at xxxchurch.com.
