{"id":5906,"date":"2018-02-06T18:31:59","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T00:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=5906"},"modified":"2018-02-06T18:31:59","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T00:31:59","slug":"4-ways-churches-can-help-end-pornography-epidemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/06\/4-ways-churches-can-help-end-pornography-epidemic\/","title":{"rendered":"4 ways churches can help end the pornography epidemic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Jack Wilkie<\/strong><br \/>\nIt\u2019s time we get serious about engaging one of the most widespread sin issues in the church today. As we\u2019ll see, pornography use is incredibly common among those who claim to be Christians, and so we as churches can\u2019t afford to bury our heads in the sand. Here are four ways we can help end the epidemic.<br \/>\n<strong>First, talk about it.\u00a0<\/strong><br \/>\nIn studies composed and\/or compiled by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barna.com\/the-porn-phenomenon\/\">Barna<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.covenanteyes.com\/pornography-facts-and-statistics\/\">Covenant Eyes<\/a>, and others, research has shown that as many as half of all those in ministry positions confessed to struggling with pornography at some point, and 64% of self-identified Christian men admit that they access it at least once a month. And yet, for some reason, many congregations remain silent on the issue. Or it\u2019s addressed vaguely or in passing. Their are pornography-addicted men and women sitting in church pews every Sunday fighting a silent battle without knowing what to do next. That\u2019s why we have to talk about it. There\u2019s a fairly common belief that it\u2019s a special kind of sin reserved only to a \u201cfew perverts\u201d (a phrase I\u2019ve literally heard a preacher use), but that stigma goes away when we talk about the issue and how widespread it is. Additionally, talking about it (with both love and grace) shows those who struggle that the congregation is committed to helping people in their fight. Talking about pornography gets it out of the darkness in which it currently thrives. Ephesians 5:11 tells us to shine the light on such sins so as to expose them. Hiding from them because of awkwardness doesn\u2019t help anybody.<br \/>\nPreachers, if you haven\u2019t preached on pornography addiction, it\u2019s time to start putting a sermon together. We can preach on sins like homosexuality, drunkenness, and other sins all day long when very few of the members in most churches struggle with those. We can\u2019t afford to look the other way on one of the most common, insidious sins in the church today. Elders, if your preacher hasn\u2019t preached on it, encourage him to do so. When he does, give him your full support as it\u2019s not an easy topic.<br \/>\n<strong>Second, give safe channels for confession.<\/strong><br \/>\nBecause of the way pornography addiction is looked upon as a type of \u201cworse\u201d sin, it\u2019s not exactly something that many people are going to confess in front of the entire congregation during the invitation song. The addict fears how the confession will change the way people view them, so they stay quiet. And the sin just keeps on festering. In our congregations we need to make it clear that anyone who struggles with any sin can come to certain people (starting with the elders and ministers, but not limited to them) at any time for help. The knowledge that someone will put their arm around your shoulder and say \u201cwe all struggle with sin, but with God\u2019s help we\u2019ll get you through this\u201d is invaluable. It\u2019s exactly what Galatians 6:1-2 commands us to do. In fact, with the numbers being what they are, most churches of any size at all should explore the possibility of creating at least one accountability group where pornography addicts can gather at regularly scheduled times (preferably weekly) to hold each other accountable, pray for each other, and counsel each other with the Scriptures.<br \/>\n<strong>Third, embrace the addict.<\/strong><br \/>\nThey don\u2019t need to be held at arm\u2019s length or treated differently than others. They need to be loved. They need to be brought into the church family. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 shows that repentant people of any sin background can and should be accepted as part of the Lord\u2019s church.<br \/>\n<strong>Fourth, work toward building discipling relationships between the older and the younger, the spiritually mature and the spiritually immature.<\/strong><br \/>\nPart of fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) involves building discipling relationships between strong Christians and those who are weaker and\/or younger. People need to be taught to observe all Jesus commanded, and that doesn\u2019t just come naturally. In having these kinds of relationships where the basics of Christian life like repentance and confession, we can both help current addicts recover and help others from falling into that sin in the future.<br \/>\nIt\u2019s not a complicated formula. It\u2019s not difficult to implement, either. It just requires a willingness to stand for the truth about the damage of sin coupled with a love for people who are caught up in sin. I have full confidence that our churches can work toward eradicating this sin, if we\u2019re just willing to start shedding light on the issue and pulling people out of the pit.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Resources:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.covenanteyes.com\/\">Covenant Eyes<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/fightthenewdrug.org\/\">Fight The New Drug<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wheniamweak.org\/\">Overcome<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.xxxchurch.com\/\">XXXChurch<\/a>\u00a0(yes, the name makes the site look suspect, but it is a recovery ministry)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jack Wilkie It\u2019s time we get serious about engaging one of the most widespread sin issues in the church today. As we\u2019ll see, pornography use is incredibly common among those who claim to be Christians, and so we as churches can\u2019t afford to bury our heads in the sand. Here are four ways we [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,59,32,35,26],"tags":[147,49,807,23,586,149,150],"class_list":["post-5906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-christian-living","category-church","category-culture","category-marriagehomosexuality","tag-addiction","tag-church","tag-help","tag-jack","tag-lust","tag-porn","tag-pornography","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>4 ways churches can help end the pornography epidemic - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It&#039;s time we get serious about engaging one of the most widespread sin issues in the church today.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/06\/4-ways-churches-can-help-end-pornography-epidemic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 ways churches can help end the pornography epidemic - 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