Theology Thursday: What's the problem with porn?

Welcome to Theology Thursday! Theology is the study of God, his relation to the world, and our relation to him. I hope these newsletters help enhance your faith and deepen your love for God and his people, the church.

Today's question:
What's the problem with porn?

Pastor Brady's thoughts:
“But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” — Jesus, Matthew 5:28

Pornography - sexual pictures and videos - is basically ubiquitous today in our world of smartphones and digital tech. It’s hard enough to avoid, but most people - including many Christians according to the data - are actively seeking it out on a regular basis. Is that a bad thing? What’s the problem with porn?

As with all of these types of behavioral questions, it’s a matter of discipleship. The issue of pornography use for Christians is a question of whether it aligns with God’s design and desire for our lives and whether it draws us into or out of Christlikeness.
The witness of scripture - both the actual explicit text and the implied model for our lives - shows us that pornography use is a personal, relational, and spiritual problem. Let’s examine why.  

Pornography distorts God’s design for sex and relationships.
Porn (and not just actual pornographic websites, but movies and shows with explicit sex and nudity) tries to provide the sexual fulfillment that God says is to be found only in a marriage relationship. Images of anonymous people on our screens cannot love us, they can only distort our understanding of love and of sex’s place in a loving relationship. Biblically, love is self-giving; porn is purely consumeristic. Porn turns human beings - made in God’s image - into objects for consumption.

God created sex as a beautiful expression of love and unity within marriage (Genesis 2:24; Hebrews 13:4). Porn twists that good gift into something that draws pleasure away from God’s design and toward self-gratification.

When our minds are fed unrealistic and impersonal images of sex, we begin to believe a false story about what intimacy should be — one that cannot satisfy our deepest longings because it was never meant to.

Pornography warps our hearts and leads us into sin.
Jesus didn’t merely forbid the external act of adultery; he revealed the heart issue behind it. He warned that lustful intent is adultery of the heart (Matthew 5:28). This matters for how we think about pornography: it doesn’t take a physical act to break God’s moral commands — it only takes a look with lustful intent.

Viewing porn trains our hearts toward lust, selfishness, and use of another person for pleasure. Scripture speaks loudly against sexual immorality, impurity, and sensuality as “desires of the flesh” we are called to renounce (Galatians 5:19–21).

Make no mistake here: this is a core issue of obedience and holiness. Porn isn’t up for debate in the church; it’s not a matter of personal moral preference. Warning and fighting against porn isn’t the church just being annoying and judgmental - it’s totally consistent with scripture and our call to be and make disciples of Jesus.

Pornography tempts us to base our identity and satisfaction in created things rather than in the Creator. It invites us to forget that only God can ultimately satisfy our hearts.

Pornography weakens the individual and the church.
Like all sin, the effects of pornography aren’t confined to our individual lives and hearts, it hurts our relationship with each other and damages our relationship with God. No one can live in unrepentant sin and still maintain right relationship with others - even if we haven’t gotten caught and think we’re “getting away with it,” porn has a distorting effect on our brains that unavoidably alter how we view other people, and how we view ourselves as children of God.

Porn fosters dependency, secrecy, and shame. It draws believers into patterns that rob them of freedom and joy in Christ and destroys true, authentic relationships with their spouses, families, friends, and the community around them. It distorts trust, intimacy, and self-worth. It conditions the brain to seek sexual arousal in fantasy rather than true fellowship. And because it often involves the objectification of real people, it contributes to broader social harms, including exploitation and human trafficking.

Pornography is a spiritual battle.
The problem goes beyond physiology and psychology — it is a spiritual battle. The world’s allurements are presented in scripture as spiritual traps Satan uses to distract us from worshiping God (Ephesians 6:10–12). When we wrestle with lust and porn, we’re called to put on the full armor of God — not simply try harder on our own.

A 2024 study by Barna Research Group found that 78% of American men consume pornography to some extent. Sadly, that number doesn’t improve much for Christian men, 75% of whom confirm that porn use is part of their lives either habitually or occasionally. This isn’t just a problem for men, though. That same Barna study found that 44% of American women consume pornography. This is a wide-spread problem outside and inside the church. Which means, if you struggle with porn use, you are not alone.

Even if porn has brought defeat, shame, or despair, God’s love is greater still. Porn breeds darkness, yet God’s grace remains sufficient for those in Christ Jesus. Nothing can separate us from his love (Rom. 8:39).

This doesn’t minimize the seriousness of sin. It means that confession brings freedom — not continued hiding. As we confess, repent, and run to Christ, we rediscover our identity not as slaves to lust, but as beloved children of God. And none of that happens on our own. Sanctification is a group project.

The journey away from porn is marked by confession, accountability, and grace-filled fellowship. This is why scripture urges us to carry one another’s burdens and to live transparently before one another (James 5:16). Porn thrives in darkness and secrecy. Bringing it into the light — in prayer, in trusted relationships, in church community — allows the light of Christ to expose and transform brokenness.

By pursuing holiness together, we help one another look away from momentary pleasures and instead fix our eyes on Jesus — the source of true satisfaction and joy. When Christ is enthroned in our hearts, the desire for anything that competes with him begins to lose its grip.

Porn is a big, big deal in our hearts, homes, and church. If you use it, I’m guessing you already know that. If you want to pursue freedom from this sin, please come talk to me or another brother or sister in Christ who can walk with you. Also, I invite you to engage with the material below. There is hope; you don’t have to live like this forever. God loves you no matter what, and he is eager to help you overcome Satan’s attacks.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. - 1st John 1:9

RELATED RESOURCES
What Porn Does to Us
Escape the "Little Hell" of Porn
The Truth about Teens and Porn
The Problem of AI Porn

TO KNOW GOD AND TO MAKE HIM KNOWN!
- Pastor Brady

Have a question for Theology Thursday? Send an email to office@minierchristian.org and we'll respond, or we'll include in a future Theology Thursday Buffet.