The Josiah Initiative: The new porn club on campus

A four-part conversation regarding the church’s need for renewal

by Ashley Plagerman and Jeffrey Vandermeer, Guest Writers

Recent surveys show that at least 50% of Christian men who responded admit to having viewed pornography recently, a Focus on the Family poll concluded that 47% percent of families said pornography is a problem in their home, and 38% of adults, according to a 2003 study conducted by Barna Research, believe there is nothing wrong with pornography use.

How does one introduce a topic that we never talk about – that we know very little about? A number of students and a few faculty members have decided it is high time to have an ongoing conversation concerning pornography and how it impacts Christ’s body. We are looking to follow King Josiah’s pattern for renewal found in 2 Chronicles 34; thus, we have created the Josiah Initiative. Over the next two months, different members of the Josiah Initiative will attempt to speak to this issue in a four-part series of articles.

Julie’s story is not the first story that I have listened to, mouth agape. She kept her head down, her eyes focused on the buckle of her seatbelt, and retold the story of how she stumbled upon a portion of her father’s porn collection when she was in fourth grade. What she thought was a recording of a Hallmark Special was actually an unmarked tape containing vivid, violent, sexual images that have remained impressed upon her mind.

Julie has told few people of this discovery, which, years later, still caused her to hang her head in shame; none of those she has told have been people directly related to her. For over ten years, Julie has known of her father’s addiction. For over ten years, Julie has been silent, carrying her shame, carrying his shame, and carrying a secret that no child should ever have to bear.

As she retold her story, Julie expressed how her loss of innocence, in connection with her father’s addiction, was first experienced as fear. She feared her father. Not only did she fear her father, but she also feared the men who had fatherly roles around her, considering all to be suspect of partaking in similar addictions.

What was first an experience of fear, however, has changed over the years. Though she no longer sees all men as suspect, with her glance still downward, Julie said she now experiences and expresses a lack of respect toward her father and, similarly, her mother. Julie’s pain and shame is perpetuated by her mother’s tolerance of her father’s addiction. Silence of this addiction has further hurt, burdened, and distanced Julie from her family.

Sadly, Julie’s story is not the first story I have heard in which a child’s innocence was bruised at the unfortunate and unplanned discovery of porn. Her story is the retelling of the experience of one child; her story is one in thousands. What about the experience of spouses, of teenage daughters and sons, of grandparents and friends and relatives? Are we hearing the stories of how pornography has affected their lives? Do we have our own stories?

In complete honesty, I have no idea how to put words to this issue. More than that, I must confess that I have often wondered whether my decision to participate in the Josiah Initiative was maybe one of the poorer spur-of-the-moment decisions I’ve made in a long while. This is not because I do not feel strongly about the need to discuss, heal from and pursue freedom from pornography. Rather, as a young woman learning more and more of the reality of pornography in the church, I am overwhelmed and struck to the core with a feeling of helplessness. The issues surrounding this particular addiction are beyond me, as they are beyond many of us.

I know that it hurts me. I know that it hurts my sisters in Christ. And I know, beyond a doubt that it hurts my brothers in Christ.

In recognition of the pain that surrounds the use of pornography, we need to seek to understand and to empathize with both those who struggle with this addiction and those who are affected by its fallout. We need to be wise about the issue at hand, recognizing that pornography is becoming a destructive force in the life of the church. Pornography is a danger that separates us from each other, from ourselves, and most importantly, from God. Though this danger is staring us in the face, we are failing in our efforts to counter its destructiveness. In remaining silent about this issue, we only perpetuate the hurt that so many are presently facing. We are allowing for more Julies, more broken spouses, more broken children, more broken families.

In speaking of this brokenness, I will not shout about a need for purity in the church or propose possible solutions; I will not make a call to arms and action, but I will suggest that we, as a community, seriously acknowledge the pain that pornography is causing. I will ask that we, as a community, be sorry for the ways that pornography is hurting us, hurting our loved ones, hurting God’s church. And I will pray that, in time, we would be able to talk about this issue with words of forgiveness, of release, of grace and of freedom.

Over the next few weeks, in seeking to “Equip the Heart, Head, and Hands of the CTS Community to find freedom from pornography,” The Josiah Initiative will be bringing you an ongoing conversation regarding the church’s need for renewal here in Kerux. We will bring more questions than answers. We will probably make some of you feel uncomfortable. But we ask that you please talk with us. Respond to the editor. E-mail your thoughts. And today, as you listened to Julie’s story, as your heart broke when hearing of innocence lost, consider how the Holy Spirit may be calling you to have this conversation with your significant other, your friends, or your church.

Want to respond to this article? Send your letter to letters@kerux.org; see the guidelines for more information.