'I've hurt some people': Texas pastor apologizes after he 'objectified' woman in sermon anecdote
A Texas pastor is asking his congregation for forgiveness after giving a sermon in which he said he “objectified” a woman in a brief meeting nearly two decades ago.
Jonathan Pokluda apologized during services on Feb. 26 at Harris Creek Baptist Church near Waco after he went viral last month for comments he made while sharing a story about a dinner with a male college friend while his wife, Monica, was out of town 18 years ago.
Pokluda told The Christian Post that he is “sad that my words have stirred up so much bitterness and controversy” and said he would be “praying for those that have been impacted by my words.”
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In a clip shared March 3 on social media, Pokluda gave more context for the anecdote, explaining that, 18 years ago, he was a recovering pornography addict and apologized for any hurt he caused: “Lately, I’ve hurt some people. In a message on adultery, I described an experience 18 years ago where I objectified a woman in my description of her beauty.
“And it was not clear when I told that story that I was in the mind of myself 18 years ago, a recovering porn addict, sex addict.”
Pokluda, who serves as lead pastor at Harris Creek, added that by not clarifying that point, he could “even be giving permission to some of you to do the same.”
“I don’t ever want to hurt anybody. I don’t want to hurt you. I’ve been really grieved to hear those expressions of your hurt,” he said.
“If that’s you, if you’re in the audience, I want to be the most accessible pastor on Earth. I sit up here after every service to talk to whoever wants to talk to me. Please never leave here hurt or embittered before the sunset. Let’s talk so that I can own my fault fully.
“And right now, I own my fault fully, and I want to ask your forgiveness. Will you please forgive me for the confusing, hurtful things that I said?”
In the clip taken from a sermon titled "Fool Proof Love" on Jan. 22, Pokluda described enjoying “chips and queso” with his friend when he says a “physically beautiful” woman propositioned him.
“She was perfect, physically beautiful,” he told the congregation. “Everything was in the right place.”
After the woman offered to buy Pokluda a drink, he said he responded by holding up his ring finger to show his wedding band.
“And she says, ‘Well, is she here? Because I don’t care,” he recalled, citing the proposition to help illustrate a significant point in his sermon.
Pokluda said he immediately thought of Proverbs 5:6-7, which reads: “She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable. So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth.”
“The saving grace in that situation was, I looked at that woman and I thought, ‘Oh, she hates me, she doesn’t love me,’” he said. “She wants my wife to hate me, and she wants my in-laws to hate me, and she wants my parents to hate me, and she wants my unborn children to hate me."
“For just a few minutes of ecstasy, she wants to take my life and burn it to the ground. And that thought was God’s saving grace in a moment.”
One version of the clip posted on Twitter has garnered almost 2.4 million views since Feb. 16.
In addition to his lead pastor role, Pokluda is the author of Welcome to Adulting and is the former leader of The Porch at Watermark Church in Dallas.
The sermon that stirred the ire of some wasn’t the first time Pokluda has publicly shared his struggles with lust.
In an interview last November with accountability app Covenant Eyes, Pokluda said despite being raised in the church, he struggled with drugs and pornography.
“I was raised in the church, was raised Catholic. Went to a Baptist youth group. I was over-churched. I always called myself a Christian,” he was quoted as saying. “[But] I was totally addicted to pornography.
“I’ve wrestled with drugs: cocaine, ecstasy, I smoked weed every day of my life for a season, alcoholism. All of that is part of my journey. Nothing enslaved me like porn.”
Since then, he has shared tips for believers on how to overcome lust and porn addiction, including removing or limiting access to content on personal devices and pursuing marriage.
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.
