What percentage of men in my congregation struggle with this sin?
A poll of Christian men by Promise Keepers puts the figure around 65%.
Dr. Archibald Hart, dean of a Christian school of psychology, states in The Sexual Man that in his research:
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59% of Christian men regularly fantasize about sexual relations with women other than their wives (clearly prohibited in Matthew 5:27-28); |
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61% of married Christian men masturbate regularly (at least once a week); |
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15.5% masturbate to pornography; |
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33% of married, morally upright men find themselves extremely or strongly attracted to women other than their wives (strong or extremely strong temptation to lust); |
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94% of men work in close proximity to women |
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(74% are bothered to some degree by sexual arousal in the workplace; |
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22% to 38% report engaging in a sexual experience at work; between
one-third and one-half of women |
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29% of Christian men admit flirting on the job and 28% to overfriendliness with female workers). |
From these statistics we can approximate that in a typical congregation, between one and two out of three men is either bodily, emotionally or mentally involved in sexual sin, engaging in borderline sexual behaviors unbecoming of a disciple of Jesus Christ, or struggling to some degree with sexual temptation.
In addition to men who already struggle with sexual sin, young boys and teenagers in a congregation are forming ideas about their sexuality and sexual relationships that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. One factor in this will be pornography. In his research, published in 1994, Dr. Hart states that
| 91% of men who were raised in a Christian home reported being exposed to pornography while growing up |
| (as opposed to 98% for men who were not raised in a Christian home), and |
| most men were first exposed to it between the ages of 12 and 15. |
Our experience in ministry has been that three explosive events have significantly lowered the age of first exposure:
| first, the widespread publication and popularization of soft core pornographic magazines since the early 60's; |
| second, the expansion of cable television in the 80's; and |
| third, the easy access to soft core and hardcore pornography through the Internet since the mid 90's. |
Our group members often share similar impressions from this early exposure:
| feeling incredible excitement; |
| knowing it was forbidden but continuing to pursue it anyway; |
| keeping it hidden; |
| and a lack of Godly counsel addressing it. |
Almost like finding shiny, radioactive material, group members were attracted to it. Unable to identify it for the dangerous material that it was, and unequipped to handle it, they have been poisoned from contact with it ever since. Our impression is that with the growth of the Internet and its easy access to hardcore pornography, we will find the average age of first exposure dropping steadily alongside earlier exposure to hardcore pornography.
| How do I preach or teach on this issue in my church? |
| How do I minister to someone struggling with sexual sin? |
| How do I find accountability for myself? |
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