Discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things. -Proverbs 2:11-12 (NASB)
In our sexualized, technology-driven society, pornography is everywhere. The Internet has channeled it into homes, schools, businesses, and now (through smartphones) public venues—everywhere one turns, porn or porn-themed sexual content is ubiquitous. This ubiquity begins to normalize the consumption of porn, which is producing devastating social costs, in the broader culture as well as in the Christian community.
The impurity this creates in the Body of Christ is harmful on many levels: intimacy with God is hindered, marriages crumble, leaders fall, and the church’s witness of God’s love and holiness is weakened. This, in turn, leads to doctrinal compromise. Far too many churches teach nothing about God’s design for sex or the harms of pornography. Too many others quietly accept the normalization of porn and tell their people porn use isn’t a problem they should worry about.
When the subject of pornography is addressed, it is usually done so from an angle of shaming men for their weakness and perversion while guilting (or scaring) them into better behavior. Time is spent telling people that they shouldn’t use porn; not enough time is spent explaining why they shouldn’t, and why they should pursue
purity.
Well, here’s one reason to pursue purity: it is an act of love and justice. How so? Because sexual impurity always works an injustice, first in the home, then in the community. How does that relate to porn?
Read the rest of Noel Bouché chapter in our free e-book, Porn-Free Church: Raising up gospel communities to destroy secret sins.
