A Battle Plan Against Pornography
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - What does Bible counselor Ed Welch say to men
00:00:07.660 | who are addicted to pornography?
00:00:09.940 | A few years back I had a chance to sit down with him
00:00:11.820 | at CCEF, the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation
00:00:15.100 | near Philadelphia.
00:00:16.460 | It was there that I asked Welch,
00:00:18.520 | the author of the book, "Addictions, A Banquet in the Grave."
00:00:22.300 | What does he say in counseling men
00:00:24.300 | who are addicted to pornography?
00:00:26.440 | - Some of the things I might say would be this.
00:00:29.580 | It's so sad, it's so sad.
00:00:33.140 | Because when we look at Genesis one through three,
00:00:36.860 | I think we could argue that to be human
00:00:40.100 | is to be able to say no to temptations.
00:00:42.020 | That is identified as the pinnacle of humanness.
00:00:44.380 | This is what distinguishes humanity.
00:00:46.940 | Temptations will be presented to us
00:00:49.420 | and we say no to temptations.
00:00:51.560 | So I'm speaking to a man
00:00:53.860 | who has lost a certain sense of humanity.
00:00:56.460 | There's a sadness in that.
00:00:58.740 | One of the questions I might ask would be,
00:01:00.800 | this is so sad because you must have forgotten
00:01:05.920 | or never known who Jesus really is.
00:01:09.380 | You must have forgotten that he is the King of Kings
00:01:13.540 | who knows all things and is in secret places.
00:01:17.940 | There is no place that is private that he can't see.
00:01:21.460 | And I guess what I'm saying is,
00:01:23.620 | if a person's spouse or pastor was by them all that day,
00:01:27.740 | the person wouldn't struggle with internet pornography.
00:01:31.060 | Given the right context, we can say no.
00:01:33.360 | If a person's boss is around them the entire day,
00:01:36.900 | they're gonna say no to alcohol
00:01:38.300 | if they struggle with alcohol.
00:01:40.080 | So you must have forgotten that our God is Emmanuel,
00:01:43.740 | God with us, who sees in the very best sense of the word.
00:01:48.020 | There is nothing that is dark to him.
00:01:50.260 | Perhaps you've forgotten that his commandments
00:01:53.220 | are not burdensome, that his commandments can be our delight
00:01:56.820 | and perhaps you've forgotten that he's interested in joy.
00:02:01.820 | And not simply joy, but this abundant joy.
00:02:05.980 | Perhaps you've forgotten these things.
00:02:08.360 | So that would be a question that I would have.
00:02:10.900 | Perhaps the second thing I would ask is, how can I help?
00:02:14.460 | And I say that because I can think of dozens of ways
00:02:16.940 | to help, but I think one of the struggles I've had
00:02:19.940 | or problems I've noticed in my relationship with other men
00:02:22.660 | is I'm the one doing all the work.
00:02:25.820 | At some point, I say, okay, how about you?
00:02:28.700 | Do you want to change?
00:02:32.220 | Do you want to change?
00:02:33.380 | And if so, how can I help?
00:02:36.140 | I'll be willing to do anything.
00:02:40.060 | If it's in the middle of the night
00:02:42.220 | and they want me to be there to somehow stand
00:02:46.060 | between them and their temptation,
00:02:47.600 | I'd be delighted to do such a thing.
00:02:50.420 | But I want the plan to come from them.
00:02:55.160 | If they're saying I want help,
00:02:56.620 | but they can't identify the nature of the help,
00:02:59.380 | I think I would find myself saying, let's pray together.
00:03:02.740 | Let's pray together and allow the Spirit
00:03:05.620 | to give you a battle plan.
00:03:07.580 | Because if you don't have a battle plan,
00:03:10.380 | you haven't truly started on this road
00:03:13.580 | of desiring to hate this rather than to love it.
00:03:16.980 | - That was Ed Welch, Bible counselor at CCEF
00:03:20.860 | and the author of Addictions, A Banquet in the Grave.
00:03:24.140 | You can find out more about him and the CCEF at ccef.org.
00:03:28.980 | And of course, we have a number of episodes
00:03:30.640 | in the podcast archive dealing with pornography
00:03:33.380 | and how to fight it with the beauty of Jesus Christ.
00:03:36.700 | Go to desiringgod.org, click on more
00:03:39.460 | at the top of the screen, and then click
00:03:41.320 | on the Ask Pastor John podcast icon.
00:03:44.520 | Well, as Pastor John wraps up his book writing leave,
00:03:47.760 | we welcome in one more guest
00:03:49.340 | for three episodes on technology.
00:03:51.820 | And the perspective we get is from a historian
00:03:53.980 | who also specializes in spiritual development.
00:03:57.260 | It's a very unique perspective this man brings,
00:03:59.300 | and I'll ask him some questions related
00:04:01.020 | to digital communications technology,
00:04:03.560 | and particularly the distractions of Facebook
00:04:06.060 | and Twitter on the Christian life.
00:04:08.220 | That's tomorrow.
00:04:09.060 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:04:10.060 | Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast.
00:04:12.660 | (silence)
00:04:14.820 | (silence)
00:04:16.980 | (silence)
00:04:19.140 | [BLANK_AUDIO]