Pastors and Porn

My friend Paul Coughlin, the radio host and author of “No More Christian Nice Guy,” has asked me to explain in 150 words or less what makes so many pastors susceptible to porn addiction. Since I am a former pastor and an admitted porn addict, Paul thought I might have some insight into the problem.

Most pastors are not porn addicts, of course. But in an anonymous survey conducted recently by Pastors.com, 54 percent of pastors admitted viewing porn within the last year. That’s a lot of pastors.

Since the survey was conducted online, it’s pretty safe to conclude that those pastors who admitted viewing porn had found it on the Internet, where pornographers freely dispense their wares to any anonymous web surfer. It is the perceived anonymity of the Internet, I think, which has given so many men, including pastors, the courage to experiment there.

Why would a pastor look at porn? First, because he’s male, and sexual curiosity is hard-wired into the male human body. Second, because he lives in a fallen world, one in which his natural sexual instincts have been warped and titillated. Third, because he works under incredible stress, his performance critiqued on a weekly basis by an unrealistic audience who insists on treating him as an asexual being or as the sole inhabitant of a higher moral plane.

Everybody has heard of at least one pastor who has run off with the church secretary. The vast majority of pastors are determined never to be that guy. Every pastor, however, experiences moments of despair, anger or loneliness. At such a moment, pornography can appear to be a safe alternative to adultery. To the man who is feeling insecure but doesn’t want to cheat on his wife, a few fleeting seconds with an imaginary lover can prove irresistible.

For a pastor to admit such a mistake, however, is fatal. If anyone discovers what he’s done, he’ll be tarred and feathered and carried out of town on a rail. So what does he do? He takes his guilt to God privately and makes a private promise never to make that mistake again. And maybe he won’t. But speaking for myself, that’s how I became a porn addict.