It’s no secret that today, more than ever, we live in a sex-driven culture. As a result, pornography addiction—even within the church—is on the rise. And it’s not exclusive to men.
In a study conducted by Covenant Eyes:
- 76% of women between the ages of 18 and 30 admit to viewing pornography at least once per month
- 55% of married men share that they watch porn at least monthly
Within the church, this would equate to a large percentage of women who are desperate to find healing. Whether they are struggling themselves, or trying to process the pain of betrayal, women cannot be overlooked. But how can the church help?
Fighting Pornography Within the Church
Several years ago, one film production company decided to rise up and produce a series that equips the church to deal with sexual addiction issues.
KingdomWorks Studios created the Conquer Series, which serves to marry both Scripture and science in an attempt to bring healing to a man’s soul. When you deal with what is going on internally, both in the mind and in the heart, the outer struggle with pornography, masturbation or extramarital affairs tends to dissipate. Why? Because they no longer have to seek to medicate a deeply hidden pain. They reclaim their power back from the enemy and are able to begin the journey to walk forward in health and wholeness.
Revive Church in Stuart, Florida, recognized the need among women and made the choice to introduce its women to the Conquer Series. In response to its decision, the church has seen dynamic results.
I recently had a conversation with Jan Mozingo, senior pastor’s wife and women’s ministry leader of Revive Church . She highlighted some of the reasons why she felt it was important to introduce ladies to the groundbreaking course.
People Are Hurting
As the body of Christ, the church must be responsive, ignore its fears and stop refusing to discuss difficult matters.
Mozingo states, “Each person matters to Christ, so we must not ignore ‘the one’! We must go after each one as Christ would.”
People tend to think that it’s crazy that Jesus would leave the 99 to find the one. But when you’re that one, you are waiting for someone to reach you in your darkest hour. It’s likely you’ve cried, prayed and begged God to bring someone in your direction who will rescue you. So imagine what it’s like to step into the church and not only hear a message of hope but be offered a solution that will lead to freedom.
The Ripple Effect
One person’s struggle affects many. It’s not enough to provide help and support for the one trapped in sexual sin. The church must provide an open door to help the family begin to heal. And healing cannot begin to take place until each person understands the problem.
Diane recently had the chance to go through the Conquer Series. She shares,
“I wanted to learn more about this addiction. Being divorced for over 20 years, I firmly believe that porn was a big part of the divorce. I was blown away by the information on the imprint left on the brain through the viewing of pornography. I see that now, but I didn’t back then.”
The Conquer Series is revolutionary in explaining the strongholds the enemy sets up to keep people in bondage. It highlights how harsh words, abuse, previous failures or rejection can play a significant part in keeping people trapped. One cannot begin to find healing until they learn who they are in Christ. Finding that identity alone begins to set a prisoner free.
“People and families are being destroyed, and we must go after them,” Mozingo said.
Discipleship
She continued, “Healing is discipleship! This is how we heal and disciple! We cannot disciple anyone with these hidden skeletons … they must first be revealed and healed!”
The strongest leaders aren’t perfect, but they recognize daily that they are also in need of a Savior. The attempts to effectively lead others can become tarnished when a person is still operating from a place of brokenness. The enemy thrives on secrets. And he will remind you of those things as often as necessary to bring about destruction in your life. When you’re battling within, it is difficult to produce dynamic results in the lives of others.
“For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known” (Luke 12:2).
James Craft, founder of the NOVUS Project, shared his experience in the Conquer Series. He mentioned that trying to keep the secret hidden was like shaking a Coke bottle and expecting it to never explode.
Women Are Rising Up
According to Mozingo, God is raising up women for such a time as this.
“Women are some of the most powerful people in the body of Christ. The issue of sexual sin that has been buried and swept under the rug for decades, is bubbling up in our society and cannot be swept under the rug any longer. God is giving us this opportunity to expose the problem and expose the enemy, and we must take advantage of this time! What will we do with our opportunity? Rise up (become knowledgeable and powerful) and do something or stick our heads in the sand as past generations have done?”
Lois, who chose to participate in the Conquer Series when it was offered to the women of her church, shares, “I’m a 77 year-old widow, and wanted to learn more about the intense attraction by men particularly (even though I know women are also pulled into this addiction). I had always thought of this as being something that could be controlled with a strong will and self-discipline. I soon came to realize the effect these addictions have on the brain. I appreciated the expert testimony and studies featured throughout the series. The methods of overcoming through the Conquer Series can be applied to any addiction.”
She continued, “There is so much good stuff in there! I even found myself sharing some of what I learned with my nephews and grandson. They need to be enlightened to the pitfalls of pornography. How else would they know since nobody talks about it? It’s time! I would recommend this series to young, old, male and female alike.”
Intercessors
In 2014, Pew Research Center conducted a Religious Landscape Study. They conducted telephone interviews with more than 35,000 Americans all around the United States. Of those studied, 64% of women acknowledged that they pray daily. When compared to their counterparts, it’s easy to see that women intercede on a more consistent basis than men, as only 46% of men pray daily.
Women, once trained to fully understand the negative impact of sexual sin across humanity, will rise up and fight. They will begin to intercede on behalf of themselves, their husbands, their children, and their communities and churches. No longer will they pray from a position of repulsion. They’ll start praying from compassion, interceding for God to heal the hurts that have been carried within. These bold women will courageously take on the enemy in the spiritual realm. They will feel empowered as they trust that they fight from the place of victory because of the power of Christ in their lives.
It’s Everyone’s Problem
We can no longer afford to identify the crisis of sexuality as a man’s problem or a woman’s problem. Instead, we must recognize that it is everyone’s problem. The church must be willing not only to address the problem, but be willing to champion the fight to help bring healing and freedom.
Thankfully, churches no longer have to enter this fight blindly.
Through the use of the Conquer Series, men and women alike will begin to understand how they became trapped in the addictive cycle of pornography. They will better be able to understand the impact of porn on the brain and why trying harder does not work. But most importantly, they will learn to identify areas of life where they have been hurt and at times, completely paralyzed.
As individuals boldly rediscover their identity in Christ, they will set churches all around the world ablaze once again with the proclamation that Jesus still seeks to set the captives free and releases the prisoners from darkness (Isa. 61:1). This will empower countless individuals, as the Bible is clear that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and through testimony (Rev. 12:11).
Step of Faith
It takes one person boldly stepping forward, committing to launch a small group, to begin the healing process. This will spark a powerful movement of freedom in your church.
Mozingo of Revive Church ays, “This is one of the best, professionally done productions on warfare for this and any addiction! We must take advantage of this excellent, powerful study … it is truly anointed.”
First published in Charisma News