CCT 28-1_LR

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Our world is in the intense battle of a porndemic in the middle of a global mental health pandemic. King Solomon declared in Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NIV), “… there is nothing new under the sun.” I ponder, amid all the sexual brokenness recorded in the Bible, could the great, wise king have ever imagined a day when men and women would be under such an all-encompassing, ever-present assault by the instantaneous availability of pornography and a virtual smorgasbord of sexual images on the Internet, apps, social media, television, and movies?

While the foundational internal sexual lusts of men may be relatable to Solomon’s day, there is no comparison to the non-stop, “on demand” access to literally thousands of sexual images carried on a mobile device functioning as an endless supply of “sexual crack cocaine” in one’s pocket or hand at all times. I equate this current porndemic to the ram pant polygamy of the Old Testament. I describe today’s pornography problem as “Current Day Polygamy.” Men today are able to sexually act out with hundreds or thousands of women through the virtual high-speed avenues of pornography and sexual images. When a man is participating in virtual sexual activity with pornography, his body and brain believe he is actually having sex with those images. I am sobered by the Apostle Paul’s wake-up call in 1 Corinthians 6:16 (ESV). Paul warns, “Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ‘The two will become one flesh.’” I have found in my many years of counseling

men who are trapped in the bondage of pornog raphy what I believe to be an evil stronghold. They are physically, emotionally, and spiritually “bonding” with these pornographic images. This is why we must treat this problem with a bibli cal battle plan, not just from a psychological or addiction model approach. Second Corinthi ans 10:5 (LSB) commands us to “… take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” As I explore what I call the interior world or “geography of a man’s heart and soul,” I always have as a biblical foundation the perspective of Proverbs 20:5 (ESV): “The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understand ing will draw it out.” Pornography struggles are not merely a choice problem, nor is this battle merely about sin. A myopic view of the origin or etiology of pornography and sexual acting out, as well as a simplistic behavior modification treatment plan, merely addresses the problem as an “above the waterline” issue. Always remem ber, this is a multifaceted problem that needs to be addressed with a multifaceted treatment plan.

JIM CRESS

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christian counseling today VOL. 28 NO. 1