Fighting porn
Jesus and the woman taken in adultery — Paul Gustave Doré, 1865
According to the Age a record numbers of Australians—assume this is true for Americans, Chinese, Nigerians, Estonians ie human beings on the planet—are visiting pornographic websites on the internet, including sexually explicit dating sites.
We all know it’s a man’s problem but now kids are getting into porn, so are women and the elderly.
Author Pamela Paul has called it the “pornification” of society. You can assume the “pornification” is a serious problem in the church as well.
Here’s what a dynamic Christian movement would do about the challenge:
1. A dynamic movement will not be soft on porn
Movements are at war with the world, the flesh and the devil.
It will take this threat seriously. Movements are not foggy when it comes to the call to follow Jesus in every area of life.
Without exception, dynamic Christian movements are tough on sin. They raise the bar to New Testament standards. Over time as the church settles down cultural accommodation creeps in.
2. A movement will proactively go to those in the grip of porn addiction and minister the gospel in power
If you’re in a movement you’ll be able to look around the room and name the people who have been set free form this form of bondage.
I have a mate fueling movements somewhere in Asia. In their movement when you find a brother under the power of evil, the go away together to pray and expect the Holy Spirit to show up and set the guy free. And it happens.
3. A movement will develop innovative, reproducible strategies that deal with the problem
They’ll be multiplying recovery groups for addicts. They’ll be multiplying face to face accountability groups for early prevention.
They heed James’ call to confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you might be healed“ (Jas 5:16).
For about the last decade I’ve been meeting weekly with two other guys for mutual confession and prayer. Try holding on to any addiction knowing that there are two other guys praying for you who you’ll be reporting to each week.
Who will be rolling these innovative strategies out? They’ll be people who were once addicts themselves. Movements mobilize ordinary people to change the world.
4. Movements offer something better
A dynamic movement believes and experiences the sufficiency of Christ to satisfy the human heart. Without this you just have the law. Now the law is helpful, even if it’s just to restrain evil. But movement are fuelled by the experience of the presence of Christ in their midst through the Holy Spirit.
There is a cost to breaking the power of sexual addiction. But there is also a pearl of great price worth selling everything for—the life of Christ in us. Now. Only He can satisfy the human heart.
It’s not just about enforcing a strict moral code that forbids pleasure. It’s about the gift of God in Christ to us which sets us free from the law of sin and death.
That’s why Jesus was able to declare to the woman caught in adultery, ”Neither do I condemn you, go away and leave your life of sin“ (Jn 8:11).
