21 Things Pastors Need to Know About Porn

Just this morning, a book came across my desk,Eyes of Integrity: The Porn Pandemic and How It Affects You, and I devoured it in a matter of hours, not because it was an “easy read” but because it shares a compelling story that rarely gets talked about – what happens to people who consume or produce pornography, and how they can find hope and help.

It’s written by Craig Gross and Jason Harper, both a part of XXXChurch, a radical kind of rescue outreach into the porn industry and the porn problem as a whole. The book shares dozens of stories of real lives damaged by the power of pornography, as well as the divine rescues that often happen when people turn from porn to God for help.

You’ll read of young men and women trapped by an industry that treats them as merchandise and men and women hiding behind the immense shame of a secret addiction. The book should break your heart, for one reason or another. I found it eye-opening, and it inspired me to share some thoughts on what Pastors (and you, too) need to know about pornography.

1. It’s sin. It’s lust. Lust is sin. It’s mental adultery.
2. It’s everywhere. Half the men in your church are likely exposed to it every week, and some of the women too.
3. It’s a ruthless slavedriver and traps people in shame and secrecy.
4. NOT talking about it with your people does NOT help them.
5. The porn industry is a dark and twisted place, filled with people with souls whom God deeply loves.
6. People who act in pornographic films are people whom God loves.
7. People who produce pornography are people whom God loves.
8. It does NOT encourage more intimacy in marriage – on the contrary, it destroys it.
9. It is NOT victimless. Broken marriages and shattered lives are all around us as evidence.
10. The internet has exploded the number of porn addicts, offering the three deadly “A’s,” makingporn accessible, affordable, and anonymous.
11. Pornography is a drug. It triggers chemicals in the brain that create addictions. It offers a temporary high, followed by a crash into guilt and shame. And one kind of pornography is almost always a gateway into something worse.
12. The younger you are when first exposed, the more susceptible you are to addiction as an adult.
13. Pornography WILL cause you to treat people (especially women) like objects and not living souls.
14. Pornography WILL harden your heart.
15. There is hope.
16. Consumers and producers of pornography can find forgiveness of sin in the blood of Jesus and be made righteous and pure by the saving power of God.
17. Those trapped in pornography addictions can be forgiven of what they’ve entertained themselves with.
18. Breaking the cycle is possible, but extremely difficult, as with any addiction.
19. The cover-up is always worse than the crime.
20. The cost of recovery is high, but the cost of not recovering is much higher.

Brandon A. Cox

Don’t be a story of tragedy – be a story of hope. If you have a problem with porn,nvolved in the industry in some way, turn to God and reach out for help. He knows where you are. He knows your pain. He knows your shame, and He longs to rescue you! Angels will cheer in heaven if you’ll just turn to Him by faith!

If you’ve failed again and feel God will not forgive you this time, you’re wrong. 1 John 1:9 is an irrevocable promise that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Try Him – He’ll prove Himself a forgiving and gracious God. But also, “flee youthful lusts” and “fight the good fight of faith.” “Take every thought captive” and “put on the whole armor of God.”