The Elephants Have Got To Go!
Come into our church and what do you see? You see the pews and the smiling people that are happy to see you. You see the pulpit and the piano. You see the fall banners and decorations making the whole building look nice. But, don’t you agree, those ugly, stinky, enormous elephants in the middle of our worship service have got to go! And go they would, if somebody, ANYBODY, did something about them! But there they sit and obstruct, week after week. We are ashamed and nobody knows what to say, so we all just ignore them and let our worship of a holy God fail.
What elephants am I talking about? You know the ones. After all, this is the 21st century and everyone has immediate and private access to pornography on their personal cellular device. But pastor, you say, “that is what the world does, we were washed, we were sanctified, we were justified in the name of the Lord” (1 Cor 6:11). “We look at our cell phones for hours a day, but we would NEVER look at pornography!”
Yes, that is what the world does. Statistics vary considerably on this issue, so I encourage you to look them up for yourself. The statistics say that around 60% of the general population watch pornography from time to time and 30% on a weekly basis. And yes, Christians score better – if we can use the word “better” in this regard – at 50% from time to time and 20% weekly. But let us say that we are a better church than the average and let us assume that we have half has as many indulgers in our midst. Applying those statistics to our church of 50, there might be 12 (25%) of us that view it from time to time and 5 (10%) of us weekly. That’s a lot of elephants in our little building, trampling on our broken hearts. The elephants have got to go!
The bad news is that you might be one of the 12 or one of the 5. The bad news is that you may be addicted and want to stop. The bad news is that you have tried to stop, but without success. The good news is that God is on our side and with God, nothing is impossible. My advice is this. If you have this elephant in your heart, devote your heart to God and pray. You have probably already tried this, so I encourage you to take a second step. Admit your pornography problem to someone you are hiding it from, mom or dad, spouse, friend, or pastor. Along with this admittance comes accountability. Ask them to pray with you. An honest conversation and prayer with someone else go a long way to cleaning up hidden problems in our hearts. Along with prayer, discuss whether you should implement screen accountability tools to help. You are not alone in this. There are abundant resources to help. But first, we all must decide, that the elephants have got to go!
“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:1-2