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Pornography’s Assault on Purity

Introduction

  “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8)

1.  Christians are called to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God by renewing our minds (to discern and do) the “good and acceptable and perfect will of God,” Rom. 12:1-2.

   -Our bodies belong to God, not ourselves, 1 Cor. 6:19-20.

2.  Gospel calls us out of the world’s darkness into God’s marvelous light – a great escape from the death, decay and destruction of sin, 1 Pet. 2:9-10. Therefore, we must abstain from fleshly lusts and live with moral excellence, 1 Pet. 2:11-12 (2 Pet. 1:5).

3.  We must choose thoughts that harmonize with apostolic doctrine, Phil. 4:8-9.

  a.  We are to abstain from every form of evil, 1 Thess. 5:22.
  b.  We are to be holy as God is holy, 1 Pet. 1:15-16.

  c.  Do so by putting on the Lord, making “no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts,” Rom. 13:14.
4.  The epidemic of pornography is a great threat to the moral purity and spiritual safety of Christians:
  a.  Our society (“the world”) is saturated with pornography (media, internet, etc.)

  b.  Porn is impacting and devastating Christians, their homes, their marriages, their sexual attitudes and practices. Consequently, the church is being affected, too.

5.  Certainly, the world’s lack of modesty, decency and moral purity is profoundly exhibited in the porn industry.

6.  Porn has moved far beyond the adult bookstores, XXX theaters, Hustler and Playboy. Porn is reaching teens and pre-teens on their smart phones and tablets, warping impressionable minds with distorted and perverted views of sexuality, which God designed for the intimacy of marriage.

7.  No one is immune to its temptation. “If you think you can’t fall into sexual sin, then you’re godlier than David, stronger than Samson, and wiser than Solomon.” (Bill Perkins)[1]

   -2001 Leadership Survey by Christianity Today: 40% of pastors surveyed had visited a porn site; More than 33% had done so within the past year.[2]

8.  Preachers, elders and every faithful Christian must clearly and plainly expose pornography for its putrid portrayal of sexuality, its objectifying of women (and men), and its assault upon moral decency and the very fabric of society -- the family.  Eph. 5:11-12

I. WHAT IS PORNOGRAPHY?

  A.  Defining Pornography.

      -“from Greek pornographos writing of harlots, from pornē a harlot + graphein to write”[3]
    1.  Legally:  In a 1964 U. S. Supreme Court decision (Jacobellis v. Ohio), Justice Potter Stewart admitted his difficulty with arriving at a legal definition:

   “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description (“pornography”, jrp); and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it…” [U. S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964)][4]

      a.  1973: Miller v. California, established a “three-prong standard”, including “community standards,” to determine obscenity.)

      b.  The Miller test[5] was developed in the 1973 case Miller v. California. It has three parts:

·         Whether "the average person, applying contemporary community standards", would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest,

·         Whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions specifically defined by applicable state law,

·         Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic,  political, or scientific value.[4]

        -The work is considered obscene only if all three conditions are satisfied.

    2.  Practically: Pornography is “predominantly sexually explicit and intended primarily for the purpose of sexual arousal.”[6]

       ** Sexually explicit pictures, writing or other material whose primary purpose is to cause sexual arousal.

       -Includes child porn (pedophilia), images and videos of all forms of sex acts, novels, etc.

    3.  Biblically: Viewing pornography is not itself the act of fornication. But, its images contain and depict fornication. It fuels lust, lewdness and uncleanness, often leading to actual fornication, and even violence on the part of the viewer.

      a.  Fornication (porneia) proceeds from the heart, Matt. 5:28; 15:19.

        1)  Fornication is against the purpose of the body, 1 Cor. 6:16-18.

        2)  Fornication is associated with “all unrighteousness” and “wickedness” (Rom. 1:29).
        3)  The body is not for fornication (1 Cor. 6:13).

        4)  Flee from fornication (1 Cor. 6:18).

        5)  Fornication is not to be named among saints (Eph. 5:3).

        6)  Abstain from fornication – God’s will is our sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3).

        7)  Repent of fornication (2 Cor. 12:21).

      b.  Pornography proceeds from the heart of: (Gal. 5:19; 2 Cor. 12:21; Col. 3:5; 1 Thess. 4:5)

        1)  Uncleanness (akatharsia): “the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living” (Thayer).
        2)  Lewdness (aselgeia): “unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, lasciviousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness…” (Thayer). Absence of (moral) restraint, Eph. 4:19.

        3)  Passion of lust (pathos): “inordinate affection” (KJV), lustful, Col. 3:5; 1 Thess. 4:5.

        4)  Evil desire (epithumia): “a longing (espec. for what is forbidden):--concupiscence, desire, lust (after)” (Strong’s Concise Dictionary), Col. 3:5.

  B.  The Enticement (Lure) of Pornography Fuels, Feeds and Foments Sinful Lusts and Worldly Actions.  (“Pornography is basically propaganda for fornication.”)[7]  Matt. 5:27-28

    1.  The lust of the flesh and of the eyes, 1 Jno. 2:15-16.

    2.  Pornography sets enticements before the eyes, luring millions into sin and death. Do not be deceived… Pornography is powerful, dangerous and deadly, Jas. 1:14-16.
    3.  Fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire are to be put to death -- But pornography gives them life, Col. 3:5.

II.  A PORNOGRAPHIC TSUNAMI HAS SWEPT OVER AMERICA (WORLD).

   “[A] pornographic culture is not one in which pornographic materials are published and distributed. A pornographic culture is one which accepts the ideas about sex on which pornography is based.”[8]

  A.   Explosion of Internet Porn Accessibility (video, chat, live cams, etc.).

      -The late psychologist, Dr. Al Cooper (Cybersex: The Dark Side of the Force) believed three main factors draw people into online sexual activity:[9]

·           Anonymity Home computers and smart phones have made it very easy to be secretive.

·           Accessibility Pornography is accessible from any Internet connection.

·           Affordability Millions of free or very cheap images are available online.

    1.  “Research also reveals that the accessibility, affordability and relative anonymity of the Internet hastens the addiction process, leading many to very quickly become ensnared by this destructive content, including increasing numbers of children.”[10]

    2.  “Today, 79% of men in that generation (the Millennial generation, jrp) say they watch pornography at least once a month (and most of these watch porn several times a week); 64% of women say they watch porn at least once a month.”[11]                   

    3.  Google search of word “porn”: July, 2005 – 11.6 million hits; Sept. 2016 – 1.94 billion hits (167-fold increase).

    4.  “According to...new porn website Paint Bottle, porn takes up a huge percentage of Internet bandwidth. In fact, 30 percent of all data transferred across the internet is porn. YouPorn, one of the larger video porn sites, streams six times the bandwidth as Hulu.”[12]

      a.  “Watching porn is, quite literally, the norm.”[13]

          -About 90% of boys and 70% of girls, ages 13 to 14, have reported accessing porn at least once.

      b.  Canada (2007): 35% of boys reported viewing porn online “too many times to count.”[14]

      c.   70% of boys and nearly a quarter of girls say they have spent at least 30 consecutive minutes viewing Internet porn on at least one occasion.[15]

    5.  Staggering Statistics:[16]

      a.  $3,075.64 per second is being spent on pornography ($103 billion/yr.).

      b.  1.7 million view porn every minute.

      c.  Hollywood currently releases 11,000 adult movies per year – more than 20 times the mainstream movie production.

      d.  47% of Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home.

  B.  Mobile Devices (Smartphones, tablets, etc.).

    1.  “According to Juniper Research, by 2017, a quarter of a billion people are expected to be accessing mobile adult content from their phones or tablets, an increase of more than 30% from 2013. Mobile adult videochat alone will have a compound annual growth rate of 25%.”[17]

    2.  Sex-tapes, You-Tube, Snapchat, etc. – You can be a porn star!

  C.  Virtual Reality is the Next Frontier.

“For virtual reality to become a viable business, pornography, which tends to rank among any new technology’s earliest and most eager adopters, will need to play a starring role, analysts say.

“By 2025, such adult content is forecast to be a $1 billion business, the third-biggest virtual-reality sector, after videogames ($1.4 billion) and NFL-related content ($1.23 billion), according to estimates from Piper Jaffray. It’s the next “mega tech theme” in the U.S., akin to the mobile-phone industry 15 years ago, analyst Gene Munster said.”[18]

III.  PORNOGRAPHY ASSAULTS TRUTH.

  A.  The Truth about Sex.

    1.  Porn is a totally unrealistic distortion of sexuality (both man and woman), Gen. 1:27.

    2.  God created sexuality for procreation and for the pleasures of marital intimacy that protects us against immorality, Gen. 2:18, 22-25; Prov. 5:15-20; 1 Cor. 7:2-5.

    3.  Marital sex is not about selfish pleasure (which is exactly what porn is about!). It is about mutual expressions of love’s intimacy, Heb. 13:4; Eph. 5:25, 28-29.

    4.  Pornography desensitizes the brain of the natural impulses, demanding more and more extreme forms of eroticism to fuel the lust.

“Continued exposure to porn, especially for long periods of time, releases surge after surge of dopamine, giving the brain an unnatural high. The brain eventually fatigues, limiting the release of dopamine, leaving the viewer wanting more but unable to reach a level of satisfaction. This is called desensitization. Everyday pleasures begin to lose their luster—including sex—and the viewer expands their pornographic tastes and seeks out more novel or harder pornography to get the same arousal.”[19]

  B.  The Truth about Love, 1 Cor. 13:4-8.

    1.  Love is goodwill expressed toward others.

    2.  “We live in a sexually confused and painful world. Exploitation and heartache abound. People have become slaves to their desires. Much of what we see, read and hear every day is fabricated in order to manipulate our emotions, attitudes and wallets.”[20]

    3.  Porn is often called love, but the truth about love shows porn to be “unloving” and lustful and destructive, 1 Cor. 13:4-7; 2 Tim. 3:2-4 (lovers of themselves and lovers of pleasure).

  C.  The Truth about Sexual Purity before and during Marriage, Heb. 13:4; 1 Pet. 1:15-16.

    1.  Our body belongs to the Lord, to accomplish His will, 1 Cor. 6:19-20; 7:3.

    2.  Self-control is necessary to do good and to flee sin, 2 Tim. 2:22.

    3.  Porn glorifies the flesh and self-satisfaction, while degrading all who participate in it.

  D.  The Truth about the Worth of Self and Others.

    1.  Porn devalues view of yourself and others, Gen. 1:27; Psa. 139:14.

    2.  Dishonors and disgraces the mind, body and soul, Rom. 1:24, 26, 28-29.

IV.  PORNOGRAPHY ASSUALTS THE MIND (HEART), Col. 3:1-4, 12-16.

  A.  Porn is Addictive. (dopamine)

    1.  Works very much like heroin:

Describing porn’s effect to a U.S. Senate committee, Dr. Jeffrey Satinover of Princeton University said, “It is as though we have devised a form of heroin … usable in the privacy of one’s own home and injected directly to the brain through the eyes.”[21]

    2.  “Desensitized to pleasure, sensitized to lust, and crippled in willpower—these are some of the things modern science is unearthing about the affects of porn on the brain.”[22]

  B.  Porn Warps the Mind.[23]

     -Watching porn decreases our sexual satisfaction. It trains us to desire the variety and “designer sex” of porn more than the familiar sexuality of marriage.

     -Watching porn disconnects us from real relationships. It trains us to detach emotional involvement from sexual experience.

     -Watching porn lowers our view of women. It trains us to see women as sexual commodities, not people created in God’s image.

     -Watching porn desensitizes us to cruelty. It numbs us to the seriousness of verbal and physical aggression.

     -Watching porn makes us want to watch more porn. It taps into the neurocircuitry of our brains, making us desire the rush of sexual energy from porn again and again.

    1.  The mind is where the battle against pornography must be waged; 2 Cor. 10:3-5.

    2.  Porn hollows out the conscience, desensitizing the heart to spiritual incentives, motives and goals.

    3.  Porn fixates the mind on eroticism and the sinful portraits of humanity, which in turn reshapes one’s thinking toward self and the opposite sex, toward purity and personal fulfillment, etc.

    4.  “The Vicious Circle”[24] must be broken!

V.  PORNOGRAPHY ASSAULTS HEALTHY, MORAL SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG PEOPLE. SofS 2:7

  A.  Pornographic Attack Upon Young People.

      -32% of teens admit to intentionally accessing nude or pornographic content online. Of these, 43% do so on a weekly basis. [25] 

      -Only 12% of parents know their teens are accessing pornography. [26] 

  B.  Porn-Conditioned Teenage Boys.

    1.  In a March 2016 Australian survey of 600 young women (“Don’t send me that pic”)[27] --

       a.  51% said girls are often pressured to take ‘sexy’ photos of themselves and share them.

       b.  58% said girls are often asked for indecent and sexually explicit material such as texts, video clips and pornography.

    2.  Porn objectifies female and male bodies.

    3.  Sexual intimacy is seen only in terms of performance and pleasure of self, not as God designed it in marriage (Gen. 2:18-25; Prov. 5:15-20; 1 Cor. 7:1-5).

“Year 7 girls ask me questions about bondage and S&M. Many of them had seen 50 Shades of Grey (which was released on Valentine's Day). They ask, if he wants to hit me, tie me up and stalk me, does that mean he loves me? Girls are putting up with demeaning and disrespectful behaviours, and thereby internalizing pornography’s messages about their submissive role.”[28]

VI.  PORNOGRAPHY ASSAULTS MARRIAGE.

  A.  It Contributes to Sexual Experimentation Outside of Marriage (including Homosexuality).

    1.  Looking intently on the body of the opposite sex excites lust, 2 Sam. 11:2 (Prov. 6:25-27).

    2.  Lust conceives and adds sin upon sin, Matt. 5:28; 2 Sam. 11:3-4.

  B.  It Contorts and Distorts the Intimacy and Commitment of the Love of the Marriage Bed, Heb. 13:4; Eph. 5:28-33.

    1.  Undermines intimacy, projecting caricatures as reality; making normal seem abnormal, and the abnormal as the only desirable thing.

    2.  Porn industry’s lie: “Porn saves marriage” --

-Adult filmmaker Todd Fligner said, “Having been in the industry and seen it from the ground up, our movies help marriages. I believe that my movies, that couples have watched, have saved more marriages than all the marriage counselors combined. Because instead of straying and cheating on your husband or cheating on your wife, through my movies and other adult movies, couples can now experiment without straying.”[29]

VII.  PORNOGRAPHY ASSAULTS SOCIETY.

  A.  Pornography is Big Business and its Economic Impact is Felt Around the World.

    1.  The fabric of a cohesive society is woven by honest work and moral restraint, 1 Thess. 4:11-12.

    2.  Pornography brings adverse economic effects to a society along with its immorality.

       a.  2006: Worldwide revenue: $97.06 billion.[30]

       b.  “Revenue for the adult entertainment industry has shrunk dramatically over the last decade, from a peak of roughly $13-$14 billion in 2005 to just over $5 billion now, according Dan Miller, the executive managing editor of XBIZ, a publisher that focuses on the industry. Miller called the proliferation of free online porn and piracy among the biggest stories in adult entertainment.”[31]                  

    3.  Porn at the workplace. Col. 3:22-25 (Reduced productivity; sexual harassment, etc.)

       a.  “Fully one quarter of employees who use the Internet visit porn sites during the workday, according to October figures from Nielsen Online; that's up from 23 percent a year ago.”[32]

       b.  Twenty percent of men and 13 percent of women admit they download porn at work.

       c.  Two out of three of 500 polled human resources professionals said they have found pornography on their employees’ computers.[33]

  B.  Pornography Helps Create Rapists, Abusers, the Sex-Trade Industry and Serial Killers.

    1.  Sexual assault: “Statistics have shown heavy pornography consumption by a male doubles the likelihood that he will sexually assault his partner.”[34]

    2.  Culture of violence: “Tragically, in the forty years since these vocal feminists picketed against the pornography industry, little has changed for the better. In fact, we argue it has gotten worse. Women continue to live in a rape culture which eroticizes violence and the degradation of women. Pornography has evolved from the soft Playboy images of “the girl next door” to sadomasochist movies ridden with bondage and violence. Technological advancements have aggravated this epidemic. The hundreds of thousands of existing pornographic websites make pornography more accessible and prevalent, and is likely related to the increase in violence against women.”[35]

    3.  Serial killer Ted Bundy:

   “Ted Bundy claimed, in an interview with James Dobson just hours before his execution, that   pornography “guided and shaped” what he did.

   “The frightening thing is that the same power that guided Ted Bundy is reaching even into the homes of Christians today. As Bundy said, “Those of us who are or who have been so much influenced by violence in the media, in particular pornographic violence, are not some kind of inherent monsters. We are your sons and we are your husbands and we grew up in regular families. And pornography can reach out and snatch a kid out of any house today.”[36]

  C.  Child Pornography.

    1.  It is “among the fastest growing businesses online. Internet child pornography offenses occur when someone downloads, collects and circulates child pornography.”[37] 

    2.  Such crimes result from unrestrained, unnatural, debased impulses, Rom. 1:28.

VIII.  PORNOGRAPHY ASSAULTS THE CHURCH.

  A.  Porn has Crept into Churches of Christ Under Cover of Secrecy, cf. Jude 4.

    1.  Sensual lusts produce divisive attitudes in the church, Jude 18-19.

    2.  Some statistics of denominational churches say up to 50% of men in the churches have a porn problem. “Most pastors (57%) and youth pastors (64%) admit they have struggled with porn, either currently or in the past.”[38]

       a.  Can the Lord’s church be far behind?           

       b.  Not when the world continues to creep into the church, James 4:4.

    3.  Snatch our brethren from the fire, Jude 23. We cannot be silent while our brethren burn in lust and, through secret sin, burn down churches.

IX.  FIGHTING BACK.

  A.  Warning Signs of being Addicted to Porn.[39]  2 Cor. 13:5

    1.  Are you preoccupied with porn and sex? (Eph. 5:15-18)

    2.  Do you use porn to escape negative feelings? (Phil. 4:6-8)

    3.  Have you developed a tolerance for porn? (1 Cor. 15:33-34)

    4.  Are you dependent on porn? (Gal. 2:20)

    5.  Do you take great risks to view porn? (Num. 32:23)

  B.  Turn the Heart Back to God (Conversion).

    1.  Crucify the flesh, Gal. 5:24; Rom. 13:12-13.

       a.  Our life is “hidden with Christ in God,” not “hidden from others in pornography,” Col. 3:3.

       b.  Eliminate the offense, Matt. 5:29-30.

    2.  Put on the Lord Jesus – Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts, Rom. 13:14.

       a.  Flee lusts and pursue decent things, 2 Tim. 2:22.

       b.  Make a covenant with your eyes, Job 31:1.

          1)  “I’m just looking…” DON’T!
          2)  We will fall into sin when we fail to do so. (cf. King David, 2 Sam. 11:2-5; Matt. 5:28)

          3)  “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes.” Psa. 101:3

       c.  Think on pure and lovely things, Phil. 4:8.

       d.  Long for the Lord, not for lustful yearnings that cannot satisfy, Psa. 42:1.

       e.  Guard the meditations of your heart, Psa. 19:14.

       f.   Write the law of God on your heart, Heb. 8:10 (Col. 3:16).

  C.  Break the Cycle of Lust, Enticement, Sin and Death, 2 Cor. 6:17-7:1.
    1.  Repent and sever every contact with pornography, Matt. 5:29-30. (Sacrifice and faith)
    2.  Use prayer to resist pornographic temptations, Jas. 5:13 (Phil. 4:6-7).
    3.  Meditate on God’s word, Psa. 1:1-2.
    4.  Heed your conscience (don’t ignore it), Titus 1:15; Eph. 4:19.
    5.  Obey God’s will, Matt. 7:21.

  D.  Prepare and Protect Our Children.

    -STAGGERING STATISTICS[40]

      ·   More than one in five children have accessed pornographic websites.

      ·   This number increases to one in three by the time they are 14-15 years old.

      ·   By college, 87% of men and 31% of women view pornography.

      ·   Half of American households reported that pornography was a problem in their home.

      -93.2% of boys and 62.1% of girls have seen online pornography before age 18.[41]

    1.  Communicate the dangers of porn to your children about, Prov. 4:1-4; 6:20-29.

    2.  Control their Internet access. Regulate usage, monitor access, etc.

      a.  Public and random accessibility.

      b.  Internet controls, if necessary.

    3.  Monitor friends. Shape values, attitudes and conduct. Prov. 12:26

       -Monitor friends, avoid sleepovers, etc.

  E.  Strengthen Marital Bonds of Commitment and Moral Purity, Heb. 13:4.

    1.  Mutual good will toward sexual affection, 1 Cor. 7:2-5.

    2.  Communication, mutual accountability, etc. to build (or rebuild) trust and security.

  F.  Strengthen and Demand Personal Accountability.

    1.  Rationalizations that must be addressed and overcome:

      a.  “It doesn’t hurt anyone.” (Child porn, S&M, homosexual...) – It hurts everyone!

      b.  “It doesn’t hurt to look.” 2 Sam. 11:2

      c.  “It’s in the privacy of my home.” Eph. 5:11-12

      d.  “My wife (husband) isn’t satisfying me, so what’s wrong with it?” 1 Cor. 7:3-5

      e.  “Everybody’s doing it.” No, they are not. Exo. 23:2

      f.  “Don’t judge me – you don’t know what I’ve been through in my life.” Jno. 7:24

    2.  Strong temptations to resist, Jas. 4:7-8.

    3.  Rehabilitation of thoughts, values and choices, Gal. 2:20; Titus 2:11-13.

Conclusion

1.  To the pure, we must submit to God, mourn our sin and repent, Jas. 4:6-10.

2.  Means taking personal responsibility and accountability, and then bearing fruit worthy of repentance.

3.  Philippians 4:8 and Matthew 5:8

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Material by Brethren

  1.  Pornography’s Assault on Purity (Joe Price): http://www.bibleanswer.com/porn-assault.htm

  2.  Helping Christians Addicted to Pornography, Betty and Steve Wolfgang (The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, 2005 Truth Magazine Lectures); Charts Online, http://www.truthmagazine.com/lecture-material

  3.  Archived articles: www.truthmagazine.com (search “pornography”)

Online Resources

  1.  www.covenanteyes.com – Internet filtering and accountability resources

  2.  www.teensafe.com – Digital monitoring service for parents

  3.  Family Safe Media (www.familysafemedia.com) – “Family Safe Media has been dedicated to providing the latest products and services that can help parents control the media in their homes.” (“Preserving Family Values in a Media Driven Society”)

  4.  fightthenewdrug.org – Resources, etc. by “twenty-somethings”

“Fight the New Drug exists to provide individuals the opportunity to make an informed decision regarding pornography by raising awareness on its harmful effects using only science, facts, and personal accounts.”

 

“With an all-inclusive approach, we carry our anti-pornography message across borders of religious beliefs, political agenda, and social backgrounds by presenting it as a public health issue, rather than as a moral, political or religious argument.” (http://fightthenewdrug.org/about/)

  5.  www.brushfiresfoundation.org – “We are a non-profit ministry helping those impacted by sexual brokenness to discover, reclaim and live out their created identity in Christ.” 

  6.  Enough is Enough (www.enough.org) – “Mission is to Make the Internet Safer for Children and Families.”

By: Joe R. Price

Posted: October 21, 2016