Shocking as it is, pornography destroys marriages, relationships, martial relations, defiles men and women and profanes what is designed to be sacred. If you think this problem is in the world alone, think again. It is systemic in the churches. Even more saddening, saddening to me since I am a pastor is the percentage of pastors that are addicted to this.
I have held pastoral counseling with men who battle this beast of the mind and it is a stronghold indeed. It is one of the most difficult things to overcome because it is a battle of the mind. The internet makes is so easily accessible and invisible; to family and friends. A 2000 survey of Promise Keepers found that 53% of men are addicted to pornography. This means that there are likely several men who are battling with pornography in the local churches. Even pastors struggle with this as over one in three (37%) have or continue to be involved with pornography, almost all of which comes over the internet. One recent poll shows that 51% of all ministers admit to having at least occasionally looked at pornography on the net.
Even worse, there are over 100,000 sites that have child pornography and the victims here are children. A 2003 Focus on the Family poll 47 percent of respondents said porn is a problem in their home. Lest we think it is a men-only problem, in the last year there was a 33% increase in women’s use of pornography.
In one Journalism class I took, the professor told me to never write about a problem without offering a solution. The solution to this endemic could be to take the extreme steps of having a spouse or friend install a filter that is password protected; maybe even pulling the plug on the internet. This type of addiction can only be overcome by the power of God through the Holy Spirit and by prayer. Seeking a Christian counselor is certainly beneficial.
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