In a recent Adventist Record article “Pornography: What are we doing about it?” (February 2, 2019), Dr Danijela Schubert highlighted the high rates of young people who struggle with pornography.
As I work with teenagers at schools and churches, it is clear that this problem persists equally among Adventists and non-Adventists. The vast majority of young people describe to me how they stumbled across pornographic content on the internet as they were searching for something else. But one click led to another, and sooner or later they found they were addicted.
When they discuss their struggles with me, it’s clear that they want to end their addiction. There is a time for prayer, for Bible study, for seeking God’s forgiveness, for accepting His grace and for learning about the harmful effects of pornography on individuals, on relationships and on communities at large. It’s impossible to move away from this addiction without these steps.
However, with the surplus of questionable and pornographic material swirling around the internet (let alone movies and social media), it’s only a matter of time before they see an image that triggers another downward spiral. A great solution would be to block access to pornographic content. And recently I found a way to do this!
OpenDNS is a company dedicated to safeguarding your family against adult content on the internet. If you go to their website, they have simple, free, step-by-step guides for how to block adult content on Apple, Android and Windows devices. (https://www.opendns.com/setupguide/#familyshield)
A slightly more complicated method that is difficult to undo is described on this website: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/features/how-to-block-any-website-on-your-computer-phone-or-network-588357.
A list of adult sites to copy and paste can be found at http://pasted.co/b2dc3032.
I’m sure that a tech savvy individual could find ways around this—no internet fix is bullet-proof. But hopefully these methods can prevent most young people from stumbling across adult content in the first place. Hopefully these methods also help those addicted to pornography to stave off the addition. These methods cannot block the “soft porn” that is available through social media and even simple web searches. But they will definitely block access to the majority of adult websites on the internet.
Even if you don’t struggle with an addiction to pornography, I encourage you to follow the steps in the links so that others can’t access adult content on your devices. I think this is a must for pastors and church employees who often lend their computers and devices to others at church events—it could prevent a lot of messy situations, and even save your career! If your church has a computer for running PowerPoints and church programs, then I’d recommend you permanently block adult content on it too just to be on the safe side.
The Bible gives a strong mandate for blocking access to adult content. God teaches that, “You shall definitely not, never, ever, under any circumstances, commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14, adapted).
Jesus extrapolates the meaning of this commandment: “You have heard it said that, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that if you look at someone lustfully—a real person you’ve met, or someone you’ve seen on the internet—then you have already committed adultery with them in your heart” (Matthew 5:27-28, adapted).
The apostles Paul and John then repeat Jesus’ teaching, stating that the sexually immoral will not enter the kingdom of heaven (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; Ephesians 5:3-7; Colossians 3:5-6; Revelation 22:15).
Every human who has ever lived has struggled with sin. Lust may not be your greatest struggle, but odds are that you know someone who is struggling with pornography. As Dr Schubert reported, 93 per cent of males between the ages of 13 and 16 and 62 per cent of females have viewed pornography over the internet. There are free, simple and straightforward ways to block access to pornography over the internet, and I think they are worth implementing for the eternal sake of our kids, our teens, our youth and ourselves.
Check out resource page Gateway to Wholeness for Adventist resources and tips in the fight against pornography.
