I was 14 years old when I was first exposed to pornographic material. I was initially shocked by it but eventually found some pleasure in it as any teenager would. So I know firsthand the power such sexually explicit media can have over someone. That was way back in the 1970’s. By today’s standards, those materials may not even be considered porn anymore. The internet has made porn so accessible in the privacy of our homes that it is one pandemic that has spread under the radar.
During this period of quarantine, one of the temptations Christians should be wary of is pornography. In an article titled, “Coronavirus, Porn, and Anxiety: When Three Pandemics Converge” published in churchleaders.com author Jay Stringer warned of the attraction to porn as a way of escaping the stress of being in quarantine. He cited the case of Italy which has one of the worst cases of covid-19. Ostensibly to help those in quarantine, one of the most popular porn sites in the world offered everyone in the country free premium porn subscriptions for the entire month of March.
The Bible is very clear on this issue. The Lord Jesus in expounding the seventh commandment stated that, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). Our Savior knows the power of the look. If this is true in our regular interaction with the opposite sex wearing normal clothing, how much more when we stare at media designed to specifically stir our sexual imagination.
The damage of porn to those who succumb to it is well chronicled, from addiction to marital strife. Just as worse is the exploitation of women (mainly) and men who become victims of the porn industry. But to the Christian, the primary reason he/she should abstain from porn is because he/she wants to glorify God in his/her body.
May we be reminded that the cost of our salvation is the death of the only beloved Son of God. Only He can give the grace to free us from that other pandemic—pornography.