The Plague of Pornography

Which reader are you?
Three different kinds of people will read this blog.

• First, those for whom pornography is not an issue in their lives: God has preserved you from this temptation and sin - thank God, don't boast, and don't look
• Second, those who are struggling with porn but who know they are not winning and are cursed with guilt and shame
• Third, those who by the grace of God are on the journey to freedom, not only from porn but from the sexual lust it both feeds and spawns.

Which one are you?

I guess there is a fourth group, the most tragic group of all:  those who know they are struggling with porn but who do not care. The only good these blogs might do for this group is, by the grace of God and the Spirit of God, convict them of the sinfulness of porn and lead them both to repentance and to the Christ who came to set them free.

The first of several posts
I plan this posting, God willing, to be the first of several addressing the plague that is now upon not only the western world, but upon the western church. The purpose of these posts will be to examine what the Bible teaches about sex, lust and impurity with the aim to warn against this plague and provide some resources for those ensnared.

But is it really a plague?
I have a few tragic stats to share here, all come from the Christian software company "Covenant Eyes".

The basic stat (for the US) is this: 66% of men and 16% of women view porn online each week.  

(http://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/).

In bygone days, to access porn you had to risk going into a shop or getting something by post, but with the advent of the internet, without filters, porn is but a few clicks away.

Other stats: there is so much free material out there that 90% of those who view online porn are only accessing the free stuff. One in every 5 searches on mobile devices are for porn and 24% of people with mobile devices admit that they have porn on their mobile device.

What about in the church?
Naively we might assume that the fearful 66% / 16% stat would be radically reduced in the church. Not so, say "Covenant Eyes". Their survey suggests that fewer men, 50%, but more women, 20%, in the church say that they are addicted to pornography.

Is there hope? YES!
Since sexual addiction feeds off silence and fear, a believer caught up in porn may feel helpless and trapped, not to mention guilty and alone. But every Christian needs to know that there is hope and help available to those struggling with this sin. Within the Word of God, in the Church of God, through the Spirit of God we have been given his grace which enables a believer....

"....to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:12-14)

There is hope! It may involve a titanic battle, but there is hope! There is hope that by the mighty power of God men and women can be delivered from this plague and find purity and healing.

That's enough for one blog. Next time: what the Bible teaches about sex.