There is a scourge in our society that I call “The Silent Epidemic.” It’s one that not many people openly discuss, but it enslaves significantly more people than even opioids. That epidemic is addiction to pornography.
As a pastor, I have had my share of opportunities to see the destructive results of this epidemic. It ravages relationships, leads to cycles of shame and enslaves boys, men and some girls and women into a powerful vortex that they know is evil but cannot seem to escape.
And because I, too, have personally been in that vortex, I speak from experience, and thus compassion. Yes, it’s an uncomfortable topic, but I have decided to broach it because this epidemic is sweeping across the church and our entire society like a tsunami.
How significant of a problem is it? Studies show that 68 percent of churchgoing men and 50 percent of pastors admit to having a problem along these lines.
Most boys have seen porn by the time they are 10 or 11 years old. Pornography is the first sexual experience of at least 98 percent of boys in non-Christian homes, and 91 percent of boys in Christian homes. This exposure, when concepts about sexuality are in their developmental stages, can seriously skew attitudes about women, relationships and sex.
In more extreme cases, it can lead to violence against women.
I first saw magazine pornography as a preteen. As a teenager an older young man in his 20, a family friend decided it would be fun to unleash the dark world of hardcore videos into my young, impressionable life. It was downhill from there.
By the time I reached my mid-20s, I was a regular user and a sex addict. After I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ in 1992, I cut off my illicit relationships and threw out my stash of pornography.
I wish I could say it stopped right there, but it didn’t. The process of freedom is usually not like cutting down a tree; it’s more like digging it up from the roots. Yes, there is a spiritual problem at work here.
It’s called a sin nature, and it has left all of us broken.
But there is more to the story than that.
Research in the area of neurochemistry shows that pornography skyrockets two brain chemicals, dopamine and oxytocin. Both are powerful substances involved in pleasure and arousal, among other things.
When these chemicals are hyper-stimulated, they literally carve new networks in the brain that lead to craving of more of the same stimulation. In other words, with each viewing, the addictive patterns become stronger and stronger.
For that reason, it has been said by some that pornography is a harder habit to break than cocaine addiction (though some researchers have disputed this). In fact, brain scans of cocaine addicts compared to brain scans of porn addicts show almost identical damage to certain regions of the brain.
Yes, believe it or not, pornography’s hyper-stimulation of oxytocin and dopamine causes a kind of brain damage that impairs decision-making and reasoning, and erodes willpower. That’s why addicts may have experienced terrible consequences associated with their addiction, but they find themselves going right back to it.
And that’s not all. The latest research also shows that porn addicts tend to struggle with attention deficit, social anxiety and erectile dysfunction in even younger men.
But that’s not the end of the story.
Research shows that the brain is changeable in both directions. If it can be rewired once, it can be rewired again. This is a process called neuroplasticity. In other words, the brain can adapt negatively or positively.
That gives addicts hope, because with time and lots of work the brain can experience healing and restoration. That’s why the Scriptures in Romans 12:2 tell us to “be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”
But how can the mind be renewed?
For starters, the first part of Romans 12:2 tells us to not copy the pattern and behavior of the world. In other words, we have to recognize that what we are doing is wicked, and then make a decision to stop (repent).
And any quality decision to repent must involve advanced planning to avoid the corruptions of the world. In the case of pornography, owning any computer or digital device without some sort of blocking software is asking for trouble. If you have had problems in this area and yet still have easy access to anything you want on the internet, you have not yet made a quality decision to stop.
Secondly, accountability is key. James 5:16 tells us, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” If we wish to be truly free, then we have to find someone who we can confide in, confess to and pray with on a regular basis.
There’s much more to the process of recovery than I can cover in one short article. Therefore, the Columbus church I pastor, Blessed Life Fellowship, is offering a recovery program, called The Conquer Series, that will meet bi-weekly begining in October, and will address both the spiritual and biochemical components of porn addiction. It is open to the public.
See our website for details at BlessedLifeFellowship.org. Many men and women have found freedom in The Conquer Series. You can, too.
Edinburgh’s Andy Robbins is pastor of Blessed Life Fellowship, meeting on the second level of The Roviar Building at 1220 Washington St. in Columbus. He can be reached at blessedlifefellowship.org.
Edinburgh’s Andy Robbins is pastor of Blessed Life Fellowship, meeting on the second level of The Roviar Building at 1220 Washington St. in Columbus. He can be reached at blessed lifefellowship.org.
