Okay, so for years we've been aware of the fact that with the privacy of the Internet, the number of people viewing pornography has skyrocketed.....and who blames us, really?! I mean, it's kinda like looking for bodies at the scene of a traffic accident....you just have to take a peek.
I remember in 4th grade I was walking to school with some friends...we always walked through an alley and one day, saw some magazines sticking out from under a rock. It was a playboy magazine that I assume a dad hid out in the backyard so the kids or his wife wouldn't find it (we knew the family, which made it kinda wierd). Anyway, that was the first time I had ever seen anything like that....I don't think it made me a pervert or a freak to be intrigued by the pictures...and of course, it's always exciting to look at something you know you're not supposed to.
So, there you have it. I've looked at porn. And that wasn't the only time. I've looked at porn online, too. I can't imagine there are many people who haven't. I recently heard someone say that 1 in 6 women struggles with pornography....and of course, the statistics are much higher for men. So not only are we getting all of the baggage that comes with looking at porn, we've got people who wonder if maybe they're gay because they were excited by some gay porn they saw, and we've got people working really hard to hide the fact that they're even looking at it.
I'm not saying pornography is okay, because it's absolutely not. Not okay if you're single, not okay if you're married, not okay if it's between a man and a woman....Not okay. It takes something God made beautiful and sacred, and makes it into something dirty and shameful. It's not okay, but it's not unforgivable, not hopeless.
I have several friends who have hurting relationships, marriages, friendships...because of pornography, and I wanted to make sure people knew about the XXX Church - the #1 Christian Porn Site. It's a great site to help people who are struggling with porn, but I recently heard about it's online accountability software and thought it was a brilliant idea. You download this software onto your computer and every 2 weeks, they send a report of all the questionable sites you've visited to the accountability person you designate. Brilliant.
Okay, now that everyone's uncomfortable that the campus minister is talking about porn, you can go back to whatever you were doing before you read this - but some things need to be talked about, regardless how uncomfortable they make us feel.
And if you need an accountability partner, let me know!
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5 comments:
Gretchen, I'm so thankful to have spiritual leaders who know what is needed and aren't afraid to tackle it.
I, for one, am one who did not realize the pervasiveness of this throughout the women of the church until recently...no one doubts that men struggle anymore, but the prevailing notion about women is that it is rare.
Thanks, Gretchen.
This was just about the absolute last thing I expected from your usual blog entries and I LOVE IT!!!
The only thing more disturbing than hearing it from your campus minister is hearing it from your sister.
Thanks for your boldness Gretchen!
I love you.
Thank you for posting this entry... It's a topic that many people are struggling with, but the tricky thing is that it is hard to discuss with others. When we had our last overnight 'retreat' - with the guys and girls separate, at the Rochester church - I brought up the accountability software thing; I had been to that website, and the methods used by those those two pastors have become controversial among Christians. However, aside from the issue of XXXChurch, the idea of using an accountability program, which simply records and sends a log of web pages to another person of your choice, is a great idea... If people are interested in using this, then I'm sure that some of the CSF leaders would be willing to work out a plan, in strict confidence. Thanks again, Gretchen, for posting this!
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