Article : Discipling Your Men out of Pornography

by Pastor Rich Jones

Someone recently asked me why Internet pornography was so difficult to resist. I responded, "Imagine placing a cold glass of beer on the desk of an alcoholic, leaving it there all day and then asking him not to touch it." It's just too easy to get, that's the problem.

The result is that more men in our churches are facing a battle with temptation than ever before. It's affecting the heart and soul of our churches, and in turn, our nation. When men are weakened by lust, they flee from the presence of God and live in the silent agony of loneliness. Men simply cannot be spiritually powerful when troubled in their soul.

Here are some suggestions for what we as pastors can do to strengthen our churches in the face of this spiritual attack.

Heat it up. Men will not gain victory until the pleasure of victory is greater than the pleasure of defeat. Many of our men are literally in bondage, but Jesus came so captives could be set free. We need to show the men that the "power" of this temptation can be broken by Christ.
Call it out. Evil prevails when good men do nothing, so we need to bring attention to the problem. Use caution, however. We need to speak grace and forgiveness and give them a vision of the sweetness of a renewed spiritual life, if only they would give their sin to Christ.
Bring men together. I try to partner men weaker in this area with stronger men to gain victory over this particular sin. In an honest, loving relationship with another man of God, the vulnerability and trust needed for true accountability can be gained. This sin is too strong to conquer alone. Accountability groups are also excellent, but men generally do better with the privacy of just two or three.
Sign up with an Internet provider that filters out pornography. PC-based filtering can be turned off with a password and is generally not as effective.

The church is under attack, and now more than ever, the church needs you, pastor. Lead them into the holy place where the fellowship is sweet and the heart is refreshed.

Rich Jones is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Worship Center in Portland, OR.