Much of what you read about the fight against pornography will be reduced to one-on-one discipleship. In general, Christians know that they must fight this problem, but I am interested in another question: what would it mean to fight pornography together?What would it be like to spread a culture, where leaders and members help each other?
The pastor is the main creator of culture in his congregation. When your pastor talks about the Christian life, what values do you list as necessary?For example, do you have a culture in your church where members feel they can talk about their sin?I recently heard a young man say, “I grew up in a church where talking about sexual sin was a secret. You’ve hardly ever heard of him, and when you did, was it a lost preaching against sexual immorality?”
- Compare that to leaders who are willing to say.
- “Be honest with your sin.
- Confess your sin to the other members.
- Don’t hide it because sin grows in the dark.
- Does this bring this to light?” This may not be the case.
- But sinners often ask leaders for permission to be honest about their sins.
- That is why leaders must establish a culture in the church where honesty and transparency about sin are valued.
We live in the middle of a sea of leaders who have fought pornography in the past Why hide this fact?Why not serve as an example (1P 5:3b) of what it means to follow the path of pornography addiction to become a pastor?While this is a long way off, sufferers need examples. share and with whom to share. But never sharing this fact does not seem to be an appropriate testimony of God’s grace in a pastor’s life.
Pastors should teach a positive and redeeming image of God’s plan for a beautiful sex life. There’s no “silence. ” So, pastors, are you talking about God’s plans and your sexual purposes?Aren’t Christians worried that they will tremble and twist when they read the Song of Songs?Listen with courage and clarity, for it is the Word of God.
Because this problem prevents (more than any other sin) more men and women from serving in leadership roles, our elders plan how to combat it together. We read, pray, talk, plan, pastor, plan, and share best practices. I spend most of my time in the trenches with those who suffer. But sometimes I need to get out of the trench and develop a strategy with the faith of others?Generals, and captains?
If you’re a pastor, what’s your battle plan?
During our Sunday night service, Mark Dever offers prayer requests related to discipleship such as, “Are we going to pray that we, as a church, will be willing to ask ourselves difficult questions?Or “Should we pray as a church to confess our sins?”
By sharing these demands, it leads us not only to pray, but as the main cultural builder of our church, it considers them important for Christian life. It’s like when Mark says, “This is what it means to live as a Christian. “
As a pastor, I cannot help anyone suffering from pornography, nor can I take responsibility for every man who confesses this sin to me, I don’t even have time, and I don’t think it’s in the best of the community. . I cannot be a mini messiah, taking upon me the sins of the whole congregation.
It is very important that members of our church be held accountable to each other. I want a culture of the church where members do themselves the spiritual good of others, where they seek out and help each other. Unlike my children? They try to play together like a band. , but they end up creating a cacophony of sounds – a church is different. When church members invest in each other, it is like a symphony full of harmony and unity. As the whole church struggles, you begin to see what a church should be.
but how does it work? First, you must teach your members to wait to be a part of everyone’s life, and then you must constantly reinforce those expectations after he has come together and be a role model, with your life, of what it means.
Membership-to-member investment involves more than just discipleship (biblical study and prayer). It takes a lifetime, which sometimes means dealing with difficult and unpleasant things like pornography addiction.
If members are willing to get involved in each other’s struggles, they should ask themselves: Am I willing to sacrifice my time to help this young man or girl?Do I know where I should go in the scriptures?Am I ready to pick up the phone when you’re tempted to sin again?What am I going to do when he confesses that he has fallen into sexual sin for the twentieth time?
If leaders are honest, church members will likely be more honest. I like to cite examples in our church of Christians who fought in this struggle and for the grace of God and his own vigilance, kept some victory in the difficult.
Steven didn’t know what to do. A young man confessed his sexual sin to him, but did not know what questions to ask, how to have more information, or how to deal with sin.
I suppose situations like this are quite common, so the most fundamental thing we can do for our members is to help them get into the trenches with limbs in difficulty. Will I pray for you? Is not sufficient.
Simply put, we need to empower our members to become more effective disciples. How are we going to do that? Sometimes this involves teaching, perhaps even specific strategies on how to combat pornography, but we usually do so as a reference.
For example, I don’t see any more addicts. I ask the disciple to come and meet us, why would you do that?Asking questions of the addict, pricking his heart and applying the scriptures, the disciple observes me (the shepherd) and learns from the simple fact of being in the room with us. The disciple sees and learns things that simply cannot be reproduced through a book or training course.
This is my challenge for you: discuss these eight topics with your pastors or your entire leadership team, including your deaconos. Choose some of your members and include them as well to see how you behave, but don’t stop there. Take active steps to start cultivating a culture where your church can fight pornography together.
By: Deepak Reju. © 9Marks. Website: 9marks. org. Translated with permission. Source: How do Church members fight pornography addiction together?
Original: How can church members work together to combat pornography addiction?© Return to the Gospel. Website: voltemosaoevangelho. com. All rights reserved. Translation: Ramon Rios. Critic: Rogerio Moreira Jr.