Statistics says that pornography use is rampant in America, and the American church is not exempt. It is sort of the elephant in the pew. Take a look at this:
- Men admitting to accessing pornography at work-20%
- U.S. adults who regularly visit Internet pornography websites-40 million
- Promise Keeper men who viewed pornography in last week-53%
- Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home-47%
- Adults admitting to Internet sexual addiction-10%
- Breakdown of male/female visitors to pornography sites is 72% male & 28% female
- Internet Pornography Sales-$4.9 billion
- Pornographic websites-4.2 million (12% of total websites)
- Pornographic pages-420 million
- Daily pornographic search engine requests-68 million (25% of total search engine requests)
- Daily pornographic e-mails-2.5 billion (8% of total emails)
- Internet users who view porn-42.7%
- 89% of porn is created in the U.S.
- $2.84 billion in revenue was generated from U.S. porn sites in 2006
- Over $3k a second is spent on porn worldwide.
- 72% of porn viewers are men.
- 260 new porn sites go online daily.
Source: www.XXXchurch.com
National Porn Sunday – Super Bowl Sunday, February 6
I’ve been thinking about this event, King’s Grant has outreach Super Bowl parties scheduled, but what if the Men of Steel took this farther?
Over 300 churches throughout the country have taken part in Porn Sunday. This is the chance to bring hope to those who are struggling with pornography. For some it is ludicrous to link three X’s with church and for others it is long overdue. The one undeniable truth that can’t be ignored is the blatant push for all things sexual in our society. Porn Sunday seeks to drive the conversation about pornography into our churches, families and lives. This weekend service brings healing to those sitting in churches who are caught up in pornography.
F.A.Q’s
- Will this prepare my church to have accountable relationships? Yes.
- I don’t know if my church is ready for this yet. Take a risk. The freedom and healing for the people in pew is worth it.
- Can I use the kit just as a resource for my congregation? Yes.
- Doesn’t the title and approach trivialize a serious topic? It actually does the opposite. People will laugh a little but in the end they will walk away equipped to deal with a tough issue in their lives.
- Why is an elephant the mascot? Porn is the elephant in the pew. The thing everyone wants and needs to hear from the church on, but continually does not.
- Will the press show up at my church? Maybe. If you send out a press release (included) and promote the weekend well.
- Will some people in my church not understand why we are addressing this issue? Yes, but a few should not hold us back from helping the majority.
- Isn’t pornography a men’s only issue and be dealt with at a mens breakfast? Definitely not. There are women who struggle greatly with pornography and also there are women who need to hear a message of hope because their husbands are in way too deep.
- What age group is PornSunday appropriate for? Middle school and up appropriate. The average age a child sees pornography is age 11.
A Word from XXXchurch.com
The reality is that as men we all struggle. And for some it’s an overwhelming struggle with pornography. We know where to find porn and we know how to keep it hidden. In our culture the line has been blurred on what is porn. The magazines, TV and the Internet put it right in front of us every day of our lives.
It is time to make some decisions. What are we doing with all the junk that is coming at us? Consume it, get in way over our heads or are we going to live for things that are greater? There is a point in which we have to acknowledge that what we keep hidden from our wives, girlfriends, children and even closest friends we are not proud of. The question is simply will you live a life that is transparent?
At the core of consuming porn is selfishness. I will get my fix. No one will know. It is my secret. It is what I do in private. My dad did it. Everyone does it and I am going to as well.
Porn is a fantasy designed to do one thing, keep you completely to yourself. It is a lie. Porn tries to tell you what sex should feel like and look like. Porn will destroy the relationships around you. You will pull away from reality because of this dirty little secret. As you consume porn, it becomes your life and you will eventually lose control to addiction. Stop now. Be done with it all. Change today because there are much greater things than porn to give your time, money and energy to.
Next Steps:
1. Confess
Go before God with everything. Confess your struggles through prayer. He already knows it all anyway, right? You have to put all your junk out on the table and acknowledge that you can’t handle it anymore-you need God. You cannot handle it on your own.
2. Get Accountable
Find someone in your life that you trust and let him or her in on your struggles. Such as a close friend, pastor or family member. You are not alone. You are not supposed to deal and carry this on your own. God has placed people around you that will walk with you as you move toward freedom. As men we naturally want to keep it all to ourselves. It it is time to own up to those closest to you.
Download XXXchurch’s free accountability software X3watch. It’s simple and completely free. This software monitors what is accessed online and sends a report of any questionable websites to your accountability partners e-mail addresses.
Download X3watch – www.x3watch.com.
3. Clean It Up
Throw away the porn stash. Delete it all. Literally get rid of the things that are tripping you up. It is time to break that pattern of the things that make you stumble, the things you go right back to.
Maybe you need to cancel your cable or internet altogether, move the computer out of the basement to the kitchen or get a filter on your computer. Take solid action steps toward moving away from your places of struggle. The process of cleaning it up is continuous and will not happen overnight. Define the specific situations you struggle and take tangible steps to eliminate those places from your life.
Source: www.XXXchurch.com
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