Christians and Porn

Those two words should NEVER go in the same sentence together.

Unfortunately, all too often, they do. When they do, it’s normally in the form of a scandal, an affair, or a troubled church. Satan has used sexual sin to pull more pastors down and destroy more churches, families, and marriages than anything else.

I recently taught a message entitled, “Inside-Out Living” from Philippians 4:8-9. It was a very practical message targeting our thoughts and their resulting actions. Whatever is going on inside eventually takes over on the outside. No wonder Paul gave a set of 8 filters in Philippians 4:8 that we should filter our thoughts through. He said that we should make a habit of filling our mind with things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. That’s a high standard. Porn is nowhere in that list. Whenever you hear of a pastor (or Christian in general) who has failed sexually, it’s evidence that these filters were not being used.

Let me be real honest with you. Porn was a big part of my past. It’s something that I was addicted to for years of my life and something that ruined me for years. I couldn’t figure out how to break free. I finally did. It was humiliating and yet incredibly liberating. The danger with overcoming something like that, however, is buying into the lie that it will never appeal to you again. That’s why it is so crucial to set up personal boundaries, seek accountability, and go to whatever lengths necessary to prevent yourself from doing what you know you shouldn’t.

Since I know that lust was a big deal in my past, and Satan could use it to destroy my life, marriage, family, and ministry, I am willing to do whatever I need to to prevent it from rearing its ugly head again. That’s where X3 Watch comes in. It’s an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch as well as for Mac and PC put out by the geniuses at XXXChurch.com. They call themselves “The #1 Christian Porn Site” and they specialize in helping guys and girls come out of sexual addiction.

FOR THE COMPUTER

I use X3 Watch on every computer in my house. It’s simple. When you install it, it keeps track of any inappropriate website that you may go to, then e-mails an accountability partner once a week. He/she gets a weekly email letting them know if you’ve gone anywhere online that’s inappropriate. It doesn’t stop you from going there (although for a small fee, SafeEyes will filter sites out as well), but it tattles on you if you do, which, for me, would stop me from going there if the temptation were ever to arise. Download it HERE.

FOR THE IPHONE/IPOD TOUCH

I also use it on my iPhone. It does pretty much the same thing on the phone, but it’s a little different. It basically takes the place of the native iPhone browser, Safari. In fact, it won’t work unless you’ve utilized the iPhone’s parental controls to disable Safari. Once you do, you enter the name and email of your accountability partner, and you surf like normal. The only difference is, if you end up somewhere you shouldn’t, your accountability partner gets an email. There are a couple inconveniences about this app. If you get a link in a text or email, you can’t just touch the link to open it, you have to copy and paste it into X3. Not a big deal. There also isn’t multi-page browsing with X3…YET. They are working on that one. The thing to remember is that this app is NOT about convenience – it’s about accountability. Think of what you could be saving by going a little out of the way. Whether or not you think you’ll ever fall into this type of sin, I suggest you take precautionary measures and download the app for free from the iTunes store.

I’ve been real open with you about this issue in my life. I want anyone reading this to know that it IS possible to overcome and that you’re not alone. Victory comes through honesty. Honesty with yourself about your problem, honesty with God, and honesty with others as you seek to stay accountable.

I pray this helps prevent Christians from ruining their lives, ministries, and marriages; churches from the ensuing devastation of a hypocritical pastor; and Satan from having a hay-day with something that was MEANT to glorify God within the confines of marriage.