Add Your Voice! Help Declare Porn a Public Health Crisis

Who would have guessed that former Playboy model and Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, comedian Russell Brand, Time and GQ magazines, and several state legislatures would be the ones warning culture about the dangers of pornography? Yet, these and other highly unlikely crusaders against pornography are reminding the Church that we absolutely must broach the subject of porn within every local congregation.

The alarm is ringing for pastors to address both the harms of pornography and the reality that every Christian family is someway, somehow affected. I assure you that someone you know and love is struggling with pornography right now. Perhaps the light shining on the secrets of many powerful people who have violated women by sexually harassing them is another wake-up call to the Church to speak into the culture, not only an anti-pornography message, but a message supporting a Biblical view of sex.

Related: #MeToo and the Deep Cultural Concerns It Highlights

God intended sex to be a three-dimensional relationship (body, soul, and spirit), but pornography merely provides a one-dimensional relationship (body only). Pornography leaves its users empty and unfulfilled and always seeking more. It leads them down a path of degradation they could have never imagined they would travel.

As Christians, we must lead the way in pursuing purity. This means educating our children about accountability, both in person and by installing Covenant Eyes on all digital devices. It also means that we teach God’s perspective of the physical relationship and why it’s an exclusive gift for those who are married.

Further, we must hold out hope that those who are bound by the chains of pornography and lust can be set free by the power of a resurrected Savior. Repentance is absolutely essential to breaking those chains. Practicing spiritual disciplines also helps those who have broken free to continue living in freedom. For those addicted to pornography, professional Christian counseling is essential to addressing past wounds or traumas.

One of the many dangers of pornography is its normalization in our culture—people have accepted it. Another danger is the sexual objectification of women. Unfortunately, many Christians seem to have either a defeatist attitude of, “There’s nothing we can do about it” or an attitude that suggests, “Pornography is not that big of a problem.” Both are wrong, and both are dangerous.

While the majority of pastors and Christian leaders remain silent on the subject of pornography, Christians are suffering in silence, guilt, and shame. But there is something you can do to make a difference.

You can encourage your pastor to address the issue, and you can commit to supporting him doing so. I remember the first time I addressed the subject of pornography in a Sunday morning sermon. One of our church members left after the worship service, in a very obvious way, as a protest that I, as her pastor, should not be dealing with this subject in church on a Sunday morning. But that is exactly the place where the subject of pornography should be addressed.

Our teens are getting their sex education, not from parents or the Church, but from Internet pornography. The largest consumers of Internet pornography are ages 12 to 17. Ignoring this problem will not make it go away. Pornography is often the gateway event that opens the door for prostitution, human trafficking, violence against women, and child pornography. Christians must connect the dots from pornography to these atrocious acts and attitudes that are especially against women, children, and teens.

Pornography: A Public Health Crisis

One strategic way God is getting the word out about the significant harms of pornography is through state legislatures. Already, Utah, South Dakota, Arkansas, and Tennessee have declared pornography to be a public health crisis.

Approaching pornography as a public health crisis allows Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, singles and married couples, the young and the old, to get on the same page, take up this cause, and fight the good fight. This ingenious approach also allows the Church to educate its members on why pornography is a public health crisis and how it affects people’s lives.

I want to encourage all readers in all states (except in the states listed above that already made the declaration) to contact your representative and senator and ask him or her to be willing to sponsor a resolution in your state.

For the Florida readers: A resolution has been filed in both the state House of Representatives and Senate to declare pornography a public health crisis. Here are some specific steps you can take to help this resolution pass:

1. Sign the People Not Porn petition, which urges Florida state senators and representatives to support the resolution declaring porn a public health crisis. There are statistics that paint the picture of pornography’s destructive nature. Familiarize yourself with why pornography is so evil.
2. Contact your state representative and senator, and ask him or her to support the resolution to make pornography a public health crisis.
3. Pray diligently and fast that this resolution will get out of committee and pass in the legislature.
4. Use this opportunity to talk with your children about the harms of pornography.

To all pastors: God is providing us with a unique moment in history to broach the subject of pornography, sexual sin, and sexual integrity. May we rise up and seize the moment. May we be remembered as the generation of Christian leaders who dared to expose the multiple lies of pornography.