The Borg are not real. That’s painful for a sci-fi fan to admit. ‘Resistance is futile‘ the Borg strapline, however, is becoming the ‘life verse’ for many I’ve encountered who struggle with porn. This life-sucking menace becomes tolerated as normal. Let it not be so. There is hope. You can get free. This 5-part series of blogs is intended to help you (and those you know) expel this toxic parasite.
I can’t say “Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin,” because, let’s be honest; this isn’t a comfortable subject to talk about. You might even be embarrassed to be caught reading this blog. It’s not been an easy topic to research either; it’s not something you want to type into a search engine… particularly when your office computer screen is overlooked by the wife of the leader of your movement of churches.
One of my concerns about blogging on porn is creating an unhelpfully ‘heavy’ atmosphere. It’s a hard subject to be humorous about because it’s such a painful and pervasive problem: among 18-30s 63% of men and 21% of women view porn several times a week. A 2016 survey revealed that approximately 64 percent, or two thirds, of U.S. men admit to viewing porn at least monthly, with the number of Christian men nearly equaling the national average.
We live in a pornified culture, from bus adverts to spam emails; it’s more affordable and (secretly) accessible than ever.
Another concern was that some people may ‘switch off’ because porn isn’t an issue for them. That could be true but, it might be they only think of porn as explicit material rather than anything someone uses for sexual gratification or escape. It could be fantasizing about certain people on television or undressing an attractive stranger with your eyes. Jesus said, in Matthew’s eye witness record, chapter 5: “anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
You may not be fantasizing about sex but your ‘porn’ could be luxury holidays. The truth is we’re all experienced escape artists, creating fantasy realities to help us cope with the trials of life.
Even if porn’s not something you’re currently struggling with, it’s a problem for someone you know and love. But if your circumstances change and you suddenly find yourself lonelier than ever, the pull of pornography could become very real for you.
Many of us have been there, myself included, staying up late to watch late night cable TV as a teenager, thinking it made me more manly without realizing it was slowly eroding my true masculinity.
So we need to talk about porn. We’re going to tackle it over 4 further blogs titled: Reality, Roots, Reckon and Resist, using 1 Corinthians chapter 6 to guide us.
Corinth, where the people Paul was writing to lived, was the Las Vegas of the Roman Empire; a pornified culture like London. Even religion was sexualized – sacred sex with Temple prostitutes to please so called gods. Persecutor turned preacher Paul was writing to strengthen the church’s resolve to resist the culture of their day. God is encouraging you to do the same!
Some resources that have helped me preparing this material which I encourage you to read:
Captured by a Better Vision by Tim Chester
The Porn Myth by Matt Fradd
And an excellent series of blogs written by our very own Andy Mehigan on the subject.
Resistance isn’t futile. God can set you free.
