How many people at your church struggle with pornography? We may not like to admit it, but pornography (sexually explicit material), and increasingly pornography addiction, is an epidemic that is doing more damage to this country than swine flu.

Here are some shocking facts and figures:

• The average age a person first views pornography online is11 years old.
• 90% of 8-16 year-olds have viewed pornography online.
• The pornography industry generates a global annual revenue of $52 billion.
• 25% of total internet search requests are porn related.
• 20% of men admit to looking at pornography at work.
• 10% of adults admit having internet sexual addiction.
• 34% of pornographic website activity is by women.
• 100,000 websites offer illegal child pornography.
• Every second, $2,075 is being spent on pornography.
• Every second, 28,258 internet users are viewing pornography.
• Every 39 minutes, a new pornographic video is being created in the US.
• An anonymous survey of those in Christian ministry revealed that 53% of respondents had viewed pornography in the past 90 days.

This isn’t a small problem. This is a problem affecting Christians – ministers and congregation members, and the rest of our world. We need to act.

This week, Church by the Bridge held a men’s night to discuss pornography, and how Christian men should respond to it, and keep themselves pure. Paul Dale (Senior Minister) spoke about the Bible’s commands for sexual purity and how God designed sex to be used. Derek Higgo (a counsellor) spoke of the horrifying scope of the problem, and the psychological, relational and societal damage caused by pornography. I finished up by sharing some tips for pursuing purity.

This is a problem that our churches need to face up to – to help those struggling with this sin – not just in our churches, but in our communities. Not to mention the victims caught up in the production of these materials. Also, consider the cost to our world when $52 billion is spent on pornography each year – how many people could be fed for that amount of money?!

Resources for pursuing sexual purity

• The seminar (minus the discussion which is obviously confidential) is available to listen or download from the Church by the Bridge website. I am in the process of turning the tips I shared into a short fact sheet – let me know if you’d like a copy once it’s completed.
• Also available on the website is a list of resources for pursuing sexual purity.  This list includes links to books, articles, filters and accountability software, Scripture to memorise and more. If you have come across other resources that you have found helpful, I’d love to hear from you.

What is your church going to do to help people struggling with this? Please feel free to contact me if you’d like advice in organising a seminar at your church.