Digital natives have a hard time believing that people survived without smartphones and laptops, but as Jesus says, it’s better to lose something temporary than something eternal. The key is to take whatever measures are necessary to fight against besetting sins. That’s the only way to win a fight to the death.

I was blessed to grow up in a time when pornography was still pretty tough to find. Magazines sat in sealed plastic bags behind sales counters, and you had to pay for any channels or movies that had pornographic content. Don’t get me wrong—I saw pornography as a teenager, but I didn’t see very much of it.

Sadly, that’s not the case with the young men and women in our churches today. Most of them are “digital natives.” They don’t remember a time without iPhones, iPads, and free WiFi everywhere. And many of them don’t remember a time without unlimited access to pornography.

I’m a pastor in a college town, not a social scientist. I can’t tell you how many young Christians view pornography regularly. But I can tell you that when I meet with young men, I don’t have to ask, “Have you struggled with pornography?” I can save time by simply asking, “Would you tell me about your struggle with pornography?”

Church, we have a serious problem on our hands, and it’s only getting worse. Every week, young people are coming into our churches, weighed down with guilt and shame. Many express a genuine desire to be free from their sin, but they don’t know what to do. And often, church leaders don’t know how to help them.

So how should we respond to the pornography crisis in our churches, particularly among young people who can’t remember life without it?

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