Christian teachings proclaim that lust is just as serious as adultery. The Ten Commandments reiterate that desiring others is a sin. Viewing pornography serves to stimulate desire through lustful viewing of others, making viewing porn sinful for Christians. The Bible seems clear that Christians should avoid the pull of pornography.
Pornography is certainly not something new, but with the proliferation of digital devices and access to the internet, porn is available for anyone to access quickly and easily. The anonymous nature of online viewing may also make it easier to justify. But what starts out as a slip counter to your beliefs can quickly become a pornography addiction.
If you’ve tried to stop viewing pornography but can’t, it may be time to seek help. At Begin Again Institute, we offer a treatment program focusing on Christian men with intimacy disorders, including sex or porn addictions. Boulder Recovery can help you heal from pornography addiction while renewing your faith.
Christian Views on Pornography
The Bible does not specifically address pornography as a term, but there are many teachings on desire, lust, adultery, and purity. In Matthew 5:28, the Bible reads:
“…I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (NASB).
Viewing porn creates the desire for others. It’s also likely that your spouse considers watching pornography as cheating, making it a significant issue in your marriage.
Christian values teach temptation is something to overcome through faith.
Through the story of King David, we learn that porn leads to a path of sin through lust. King David desired Bathsheba after watching her bathe from the palace rooftop. King David sent for her to make Bathsheba his, then had her husband killed before making Bathsheba another of his wives (2 Sam. 11:1-27).
Some people may see porn as unharmful and tell themselves those in the pornography are consenting, so that does not make it sinful.
Matt Wenger, Clinical Director at Begin Again Institute, said watching porn is a sin for many reasons, including what it does to the viewer, their partner, and society.
“It dehumanizes those depicted in it and makes it much more likely that its users will objectify others,” he said. “Using porn is not a ‘victimless crime.’ Using pornography perpetuates harm against the innocent and is out of line with God’s character.”
Pornography distorts people’s humanity, even if no one wants to admit it, said T.C. Ryan, author of Ashamed No More: A Pastor’s Journey Through Sex Addiction and Pastoral Consultant at Boulder Recovery.
“Porn magnifies human sexuality, distorts it, makes it larger than reality, and isolates it for trade,” he said. “At the same time, it makes the magnificence of being a creature made in the image of God something as insignificant as ink on paper or pixels on a screen. It’s a most malicious smearing of the divine images of all of us. Simply put, porn is uncompromising, progressive, destructive evil.”
Whatever the initial effect of watching porn, T.C. said it will only get worse.
“Pornography has a progressive effect,” he wrote. “We start in one place, or with one passing notion, and find ourselves moving into areas where we never dreamed we’d find ourselves.”
Moral and Ethical Considerations
Christians rely on their faith through their relationship with God. If you are spiritually suffering and unable to have an honest relationship with God, you will not have a strong relationship with yourself or your loved ones.
Addiction places itself above everything else in your life, and the compulsive need for pornography is no different. Christians need to remain strong in faith and understand that porn can be the gateway to sin and addiction.
Adultery is a sin, and lust, through pornography, may lead to adulterous thoughts or acts. As humans, appreciating the physical appearance of someone else is expected. Crossing the line from appreciating their beauty to thinking lustful thoughts or seeking out pornographic images as a replacement is a slippery slope leading to negative behaviors and sin.
Psychological and Social Implications
Watching porn may not only negatively impact your life, but it can have negative effects on those around you. Viewing the human body as an object and something used to arouse your lust makes it difficult to maintain intimate relationships with your partner.
“The user of porn can become emotionally unavailable to their partner and cause deep emotional and psychological damage through the repeated betrayals of discovering the use of porn. Not to mention lying and gaslighting to cover it up,” Matt said.
The negative impact porn can have on your life includes isolating yourself from loved ones, enduring financial problems, difficulties performing your work to previous levels, causing physical hardships like lack of sleep or anxiety, and creating an inability to have a positive relationship with God, yourself, and your loved ones.
Boulder Recovery’s Stance
At Boulder Recovery, we understand the intense pressure Christians sometimes face when attempting to heal themselves and avoid temptations.
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13, NIV).
Christian men are subjected to mediated content and the social constructs of being “a man” by ogling women and participating in vulgar speech and behavior. When you add to these temptations the need to cope with unresolved trauma or other negative emotions, it becomes a perfect storm for some men.
That’s why we offer our 14-Day Christian Men’s Intensive, which focuses on treating Christian men with intimacy disorders, including sex or pornography addictions, by helping them uncover the root cause of their addiction and stop negative behaviors.
“Men dealing with sex addiction usually feel isolated and lonely,” Matt said. “They are crippled by the shame of acting out and past traumas and instinctively hide or put on personas to protect themselves from rejection. Treatment opens up the door for deep healing and living a more authentic life that’s congruent with your values.”
Understanding the cause of the porn or sex addiction, not just trying to stop watching porn, is key to long-term recovery.
How Boulder Recovery Can Help
It’s normal for Christians to experience times that challenge your faith. It’s during these times that you should seek support and guidance from those who can help strengthen your faith.
If you find yourself or your loved one needing faith-based support to work through porn or sex addiction, Boulder Recovery’s 14-Day Christian Intensive can provide the guidance you need and pornography addiction treatment, if necessary.
Contact us today to see how our faith-based program for Christian men can help you rebuild your faith, life, and relationships.
For more than 20 years, Doug Harsch worked as both a pastor and lay counselor in the city of Chicago. Feeling called in a new direction, he completed his Masters in Mental Health Counseling from Trinity International University.
