In recent years, I have learned many shocking statistics related to pornography consumption among young people. According to Fight The New Drug, an organization that seeks to bring the porn crisis and its harmful affects into the light, 64% of young people, ages 13–24, actively seek out pornography weekly or more often (FTND). As is obvious in the previous quote, pornography affects a majority of young people (Gen Z).

Because the pornography industry is so widespread, many people of the Gen Z population experience its affects in some way, although not always talked about as if that were the case. Recently, I questioned whether this industry, one known for degrading human dignity and fostering human trafficking, is able to be completely redeemed. At first thought, I was completely overwhelmed and seriously doubted the possibility of taking on a task such as this. After awhile of thinking though, I began to strategize some ways that the Church could use a neglected issue like pornography and turn it into an opportunity to bring people to Christ. Furthermore, if healing were to truly take place in the lives of Gen Z, the $97 billion industry could be significantly lessened due to a change in the interests of Gen Z.

While my proposition for how to effectively conquer the porn industry while replacing it with the hope of the Gospel is a certain method, I realize no true healing will take place without Christ’s redemptive Spirit working through his people.

While reading the book, A Creative Minority, I learned that a creative minority is a group of people committed to one another through self-sacrificial love and devoted to the wellbeing of each individual within the group. One way I think the Church could seriously influence the lives of Gen Z is by utilizing their weakness concerning porn consumption through porn support groups. These groups would function as accountability for each person involved and each group would be headed by a mature Christian of a church. While I know many churches already have some sort of accountability group running within the church congregation, I have not seen as many churches reach out to people who may not be Christians but still would like to experience freedom from porn. I think churches could advertise and promote these accountability groups without mandating that people must come to the church in order to experience one of these groups. They could be held in the houses of church members or local coffee shops. As Gen Z is exposed to people committed to seeing real improvement in their lives, surely they would be intrigued as to why people would desire to discuss porn-related topics with them. The men and women leading the accountability groups could also be trained mentors in which they would approach the fight for freedom from a Christian worldview. So, the leaders would give very practical ideas and support for how to heal from pornography consumption while integrating the freedom Christ offers through deep discussions held during group meetings. In addition, I think it may be more impactful for leaders to be previous porn users who have experienced freedom. People attending the groups would recognize that the leaders are indeed Christians, yet are not congruent with the way Christians are portrayed in the media. Gen Z could see that Christians are not self-righteous and arrogant but rather can be vulnerable, showing they struggle with the same issues yet depend on Christ alone for freedom.

One of the largest struggles with groups such as these would be the issue of attendance: why would Gen Z want to come? Fight The New Drug states that significant increases in verbal and physical aggression take place by frequent porn users. Because so many people experience the pornography industry in some way, surely many Gen Z people experience increases in aggression. Christians involved in these accountability groups serving Gen Z would display a completely different kind of love than Gen Z has ever known. Surely, by the power of the Spirit working in the lives of the Christians, Gen Z would experience and be drawn to people whose character is known for being true love rather than hateful aggression.

While I know this “plan for healing” has many flaws and could use much more thought, I enjoyed spending time devising a possible way non-Christians could experience the redemptive love of Christ in one of the areas of life most shunned by people.

Citation:

“20 Mind-Blowing Stats About the Porn Industry and Its Underage Consumers.” Fight the New Drug, 7 Mar. 2019, fightthenewdrug.org/10-porn-stats-that-will-blow-your-mind/.