>Christian Today is reporting that the number of Christians who are addicted to pornography is increasing. The following is an excerpt from the news report:
In a culture where sexuality and porn is now a part of everyday life, porn
addiction in the church is escalating, according to a new survey.
In a poll of 1,000 respondents, 50 percent of Christian men and 20 percent of
Christian women were found to be addicted to pornography. Conducted by
ChristaNet.com, a popular Christian marketplace website, the poll asked visitors
about their personal sexual conduct.
“There have been dynamic paradigm shifts in the behaviour of Christians over the last four years,” said Clay Jones, founder and president of Second Glance Ministries, which partnered with ChristiaNet.com to evaluate poll responses.
Many point to the Internet for the pervasive problem of sexual addiction.
Today’s sexualised culture also has churchgoing women struggling with sexual addiction. The ChristiaNet.com survey found 60 percent of Christian women admitting to having significant struggles with lust; 40 percent saying they were involved in sexual sin in the past year; and 20 percent struggling with looking at pornography on an ongoing basis.
Visit Christian Today and read the news report in its entirety.
The problem of addiction to pornography has been attributed to a “paradigm shift” in the behavior of Christians. I believe that this paradigm shift has happened primarily because of a change in what people see, what they hear, and how they think.
In a society that is becoming more and more secular, devoid of God and of spiritual and moral guidance, people have no one to guide them into moral wholeness. Believers can trust God’s Word to help them live successful and happy lives but some of God’s people perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).
When Christians do not read or study the Bible and do not apply biblical principles to their lives, they live without the compass that can guide them into a life of wholeness.
In today’s secularized society, there has been a fierce struggle over who will control the minds of people: God or the forces of secularism. Sooner or later people have to make a choice and that choice will influence what they see, what they hear, and how they think.
The advent of modern technology, including television and the Internet, has made an impact on every person on this planet. Technology has found many ingenious ways of infiltrating people’s minds with pictures and sounds that proclaim an anti-God message, a message that produces different forms on unnatural behavior.
In this computer age, everyone is aware of the saying: “Garbage in, garbage out.” Since people are what they think, most people’s thought process is the result of what has come into their minds through what they hear on radio, watch on television, and see in the Internet.
Pornography is not normal. People are obsessed with sex because merchants of filth are providing them with the fuel that keeps their obsession burning.
In the book of Judges we find a society in chaos, full of violence and sexual perversion. According to the writer of Judges, “In those days Israel had no king; so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25). And as a result, a group of men tried to rape a man (Judges 19:22), a group of men raped a woman all night (Judges 19:25), a group of men kidnaped women for sex (Judges 21:12), and another group of men kidnaped more women for sex.
There has been a paradigm shift. It is a shift away from God into a society where people struggle to satisfy their evil desires. The words of Paul provide help for those obsessed with pornography: “Let the Lord Jesus Christ take control of you, and do not think of ways to indulge your evil desires” (Romans 13:14). He also said: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires” (Colossians 3:5).
As long as there is no king in the land, people will do whatever seems right in their own eyes. People need a king and his name is Jesus.
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Tags: Church, Pornography
Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
>Have you ever considered that some Christians at least may be obsessed with sex in destructive ways not because Godless secular society and the internet coax them into it, but because Christian cultures often do not convey the message that sex is a healthy and good thing? Other factors should of course not be ruled out, but I think that churches should accept some of the blame for this problem and really take a good, long look at what they’re teaching. People with healthy and thriving sexual relationships have little impetus to look in destructive places for gratification.
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>Dear friend,Thank you for your comment. I totally agree with you. Many Christians do not have a good understanding of the biblical teaching on sex. Many churches emphasize a form of holiness that makes sex a sinful act. If churches and ministers would teach that sex is a wonderful gift from God, people would change their behavior and no longer exploit one another for sexual gratification.Thank you for visiting my blog.Claude Mariottini
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>I agree with what was said, but has anyone considered the single, non-married types out there? It is true that if one has a healthy sex life, than one wouldn’t have to look into the destructive places for gratification. However, a “sex life” seems to be only attainable through marriage. So, if one isn’t married (such as teens and college students), how do they obtain a “healthy” sex life when one isn’t present to begin with?
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>Dear Friend,In this age of promiscuity, it is hard to talk about abstinence. However, the ideal has always been that sex should happen within the context of marriage. This is a biblical teaching that most people ignore today. This biblical teaching has not been abolished and I believe abstinence deserves to be taught to teens and college students as well as to single adults.Thank you for visiting my blog.Claude Mariottini
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>Claude Mariottini,Thank you for your blog, it’s very helpful to a young Christian such as myself!D. Eaton
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>D. Eaton,You are welcome. I write my blog on biblical themes in order to help people like you to develop a better appreciation for the Old Testament.Thank you for visiting my blog.Claude Mariottini
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>I am a church-going man who has been addicted to pornography since I was 12 years old. I tried several times to get help from both my parents and two pastors that I trusted. However, while they all promised to help and had ideas that probably would have helped, after approaching them they never brought it up again.At this point I gave up.Perhaps the reason that this is such a problem is because Pastors and people in the church refuse to address it.For my entire story, and how I'm receiving help, see my blog:www.themaninthepew.blogspot.com
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>Dear Friend,Thank you for visiting my blog and for your comment. Pornography affects millions of people and many of them are members of churches.I believe that the Lord can deliver people from this evil situation. It is sad that some pastors are not willing to address this issue. However, blogs like yours can help many people.Keep up with your good work. If you can help one person, you have accomplished your mission.Claude Mariottini
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>Thanks for this valuable post!
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>Luke,I am glad to know you enjoyed my post. Welcome to my blog and I hope you will enjoy reading others posts.Claude Mariottini
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