Are Christians Actually Being Re-generated?
The Data on Pornography Suggests Otherwise
If Christians are transformed by the Holy Spirit, we would expect to see differences in morality between Christians and the greater population. That’s not a controversial hypothesis.
However, the data often indicates only a tepid transformation between practicing Christians and non-Christians. For example, the question of pornography use has vexed me for years. You would think that practicing Christians would be wildly different from the society around them. And perhaps you can make that argument based on the Barna study below1: it appears that there are 17% more Practicing Christians who “never” use pornography, versus the general population.
However, I don’t find 17% to be very meaningful and it’s possible that Christians are virtue signaling in these studies, which would mean the 17% portion is smaller. On top of that, Practicing Christians and Non-Christians look virtually the same in daily, weekly, and “less often” than a month use of pornography categories versus non-Christians.
In the press release of the study, Barna says, “Just 10 percent of U.S. Christians and churched adults say their church offers programming to help those struggling with pornography. Meanwhile, over half (58%) say it’s important to them that their church is addressing topics like pornography.”2
I’m not sure “programming” is the answer here. That appears to be the simple solution for many churches that are facing a pervasive problem.
What we argue on this substack is that programming typically solves for symptoms rather than the underlying disease. The disease of modern pornography was possibly not contemplated in Paul’s writings but we do know that sexual immorality was a particular focus for him. I don’t want to put sexual sin on a pedestal, yet there is clear language that sexual immorality is an especially insidious form of immorality that is worthy of our special attention. It also turns out that its use is a lot easier to study than “honoring your mother and father,” and it’s far more indicative of an underlying disease than sins like, murder, theft, etc. Sexual immorality goes to the character of individuals, a malformation in our hearts because it is often so hidden. That makes it a useful indicator of our soul’s hidden conditions. And if that’s the case, church “programming” needs to do a lot more than simply address the sin, it would need to address the very formation of a person’s character into something Christ-like. In other words, we’re talking about deep discipleship as a real solution to sexual sin and addiction.
Recall how we define discipleship here3:
Engaging in apprenticeship to Christ through
an embodiment of His mission and
an understanding of His teachings
Even now, I’m thinking of how we could refine that definition to include this preface: “Transformation of our souls by”—at the very least, this is the hopeful result of discipleship. “Transformation.”
The data on pornography use tells us that practicioners are not experiencing the kind of transformation we hope to see. We admit that Christianity is not an easy practice. It’s one that takes time and devotion. The results are often intangible—it’s more like building muscle than cooking a meal; we don’t see the end results until we have been practicing it for a long time.
Discipleship programs need to be equipped to do more than provide information; they must demand vulnerability from us. What the data tells me is that most Christians are not in need of more “programs” and “knowledge” about how to overcome sexual sin (or other sin). They need more spaces where they can share in what I call, radical vulnerability.
What is radical vulnerability? It is a space where an individual can share anything without shallow judgment from fellow Christians. Most often, that kind of space needs to be constructed. It might mean that a man needs a space with all men (and likewise for a woman who wishes to be vulnerable). It requires a space where gossip and social “triangulation” (simply, sharing information about others outside of their presence) is strictly prohibited. And then it requires a deep level of trust and honesty. The best spaces for this kind of sharing in a church is typically a small group setting or a retreat setting—again, we should resist the belief that a “class” will fix the problem of pornography without greater transformation of the soul.
Of course, yes, classes on pornographic addiction are awesome additions to a church. But if you think about what is successful vs. unsuccessful in those programs, the key is typically that men are asked to share in an “AA”-style setting their struggles and addictions. That is not meant to simply eliminate the sin. The group is oriented toward character transformation through an unprecedented amount of inter-group honesty that then extends to the individual’s family and friends. That is a form of “radical vulnerability” and is often the beginning of true transformation in a disciple.
So if we look at the Barna data, what we might conclude is churches are not good at deep character transformation. But the more nuanced view is that Sunday church (i.e., sitting in a pew) is simply not good at deep character transformation. And so the answer continues to be to drive people into smaller settings where they can share mistakes, foibles and deeper flaws in their character with a view toward inviting the Holy Spirit into those dark spaces, engaging in actual transformation.
I am indeed excited for the 17% of Christians who actually find themselves no longer struggling with pervasive societal sins like pornography (even if that number might be lower than what is true). Oddly enough, that is about the percentage of people I would estimate are involved in church relationships that consist of mentorship and small groups. My hunch is that the roughly 20% of church attendees who deeply participate in community are succeeding in the battle against pornography because they are succeeding in the larger battle of counterformation. Counterformation is the process of pushing against the world’s formation of our souls and, as Flannery O’Connor once said, “push back against the age as hard as it pushes against you.”
A note on AI: Seeking Christ is a sacred act, one that we are not willing to cede to artificial intelligence. We uncompromisingly do not use artificial intelligence to write our posts. We hope that the genuineness of our writing bleeds through every paragraph.
https://www.barna.com/trends/over-half-of-practicing-christians-admit-they-use-pornography/
Ibid.
