The State of... Porn

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

As I address The State of Pornography, I am tempted to wonder if I am highlighting a topic that you all are not overly concerned about.

Barna’s report claims that roughly 30% of the public does not come across it AND does not seek it out.

Adults 25 years of age and older, when asked to rank actions that are “wrong” ranked “not recycling” as more wrong than “watching sexually explicit scenes in a movie.”

Teens and young adults (24 years of age and younger) ranked not recycling as more “wrong” than viewing porn images, reading erotic/porn content, and watching sexually explicit scenes in a movie.

Adults 25 years of age or older who seek out pornography at least occasionally who are married, 31% say porn has positively affected their sex life. Only 5% of those people say it has negatively effected your sex life… and only 6% of those say it “sometimes hurts relationships.”

Almost 39% of practicing Christians who actively seek out porn feel comfortable with how much porn they use. 21% would rather not use as much porn as they do, but believe some is ok.

51% of Americans seek it out, at least occasionally.

Maybe I’m trying to get you to be concerned about a topic that you aren’t particularly concerned about… or have simply come to accept as a way of life.

Top 2 Reasons people use porn:

Curiosity is #2 — always a danger with a topic like this… to nudge curiosity.

Arousal is #1… across the board, in every age category, however frequently or infrequently it is used, this is the number 1 reason people use porn.

But I suspect “arousal” is a bird bath term that speaks to an issue that is as deep as an ocean — and this is where I want to focus my ministry today.

I could talk about:

Sex trafficing

The majority of divorces include porn as an issue

The power of secrets

How porn use begins

The ease of hiding porn usage

Instead, I want to focus on the ocean the bird bath of “arousal” is covering.

Psalm 34:8 ESV

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

Only the Lord can meet the deepest needs of our lives. He doesn’t always meet them the way or on the time table we like, but when we come to him, we can taste and see the Lord is good.

Control and Comfort… Excitement and Ease

The important aspects of porn use is contained not primarily in that it us used, but what you are paying attention to and how/when you are seeking or using pornography.

This is crucial when you ask for help… this is crucial when you are asked for help… this is crucial when you get caught or it is revealed to you that this as an issue in the life of someone you love.

By the way, in answering the question “do you have anyone in your life who is helping you avoid pornography, the percentage of those who say they would like to stop using porn, ages 13-24 79% answer the question “no” and those over the age of 25, 87% answer “no.”

Is there someone who could help?

When you take that step — either by choice or necessity — the ocean does not reside in addressing what you have done/are doing. That is the bird bath.

The husband… son...

The OCEAN is the story of your life bound up in this area of your life and needing to be told and explored.

I want to be caring and candid...

If you use porn with any frequency at all… if you have a history with porn… if you have a relationship with porn… if you have mastered porn… (and if you have history with it, you have mastered it)...

Everyone say, “I need help...”

When you use porn you are looking for something. You can find and see anything… but anything doesn’t normally do… you are looking for something.

What are you looking for? What is interesting to you? What has your attention — and has had your attention — for a while?

Exploring and unpacking the answer(s) to this question is crucial.

You will come to see how porn has become an idol in your life.

It’s time

You will come to see major, massive themes in your life that only the Lord can attend to in ways that are good.

When David is walking the roof of the castle in , what is swirling inside of him?

When Potiphar’s wife in is pursuing Joseph, what is swirling inside of her?

When you — or someone you care about — is engaging in looking at pornography, what is swirling inside of them? And how is what they are looking at an incomplete, ineffective attempt to satisfy the demanding realities of their interior, spiritual lives?

Psalm 34:8 ESV

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!

One of porn’s greatest allures: the answer is never “no.”

Jesus, not porn, is always Yes to the needs in our lives.

2 Corin 1:17-

2 Corinthians 1:17–22 ESV

17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

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