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SEAN: Why is pornography so harmful?

JOSH:There are several reasons. First, pornography harms people physically. Science has shown that within minutes of watching pornography the brain undergoes neurochemical change. Images of pornography are locked into the brain and can distort the way people seen reality.

Pornography also affects will power. It has always amazed me that men are willing to see out their marriage and jobs because of pornography. A man recently called me who had spent $20K on pornography and his family is deeply suffering because of it. Why would he do this? God has made our prefrontal lobes to evaluate things and make moral choices. But pornography bypasses this part of the brain and goes directly to the limbic system where raw emotion is processed. As a result, people who watch pornography often lose the ability to think well. Here’s a phrase I have come up with: “When you give into your cravings you give up on your reasoning.”

Pornography also damages people spiritually. It distorts God’s plan for sex and offers a false reality. As a result, pornography interrupts the ability people have to understand God’s design and purpose for sex and relationships. People start to think in terms of personal satisfaction rather than God’s design for loving and caring for other people. After awhile, people start questioning the authority of Scripture, the church, and their parents.

SEAN: What surprised you most from the recent porn phenomenon study that you commissioned with Barna?

JOSH: The most eye-opening insight, sadly, is that the porn phenomenon is going to get worse. There has been a complete moral and cultural shift for those roughly twenty-five years old and younger within the church. For the most part, pornography deeply influences the worldview of young people today and we will see this played out in coming years within the church.

SEAN: Are there any positive signs in the fight against pornography that give hope?

JOSH: Yes, many secular institutions are coming out publicly and admitting that they were wrong about pornography and how it influences culture. A major secular institution, which focuses on marriage, recently came out and reversed its position that pornography can be beneficial in marriage. Very few people criticized pornography a few decades ago, but now more people are beginning to see the harm it causes to individuals and society.

SEAN: What principles or what things does the church need to do in response to this epidemic of pornography?

JOSH: One of the biggest things the church needs to do is speak out on pornography. We should spend about 20% of our energy on the negative and about 80% on positive solutions. The church also needs to help parents build loving, intimate relationships with their kids. Children need to feel free, safe, secure and unconditionally loved by their parents.