There is a cancer – pornography – metastasizing in the Church today. And our silence, our failure to diagnose only helps strengthen porn’s grip and weaken those struggling in our midst. In Closing the Window: Steps to Living Porn Free, Tim Chester takes a straightforward look at the porn plague, but also offers hope that it need not be terminal.
Disclaimer: Chester writes with necessary frankness, meaning this book could be fodder for temptation if mishandled. He encourages readers to proceed carefully – and prayerfully – so as to focus on Christ, not porn.
Porn as Chester defines it is “anything used for sexual titillation, gratification, or escape” (11). This certainly means explicit material online or in print, but also ads, fantasies, or mental images used to stimulate lust. Porn isn’t a new problem, but, in our sexual permissive society with free porn waiting a click away, it is no longer just the world’s problem. Chester references several surveys, formal and informal, showing that approximately 1 in 3 Christians is addicted to porn (9). Fully one-third – within the Church! Perhaps we think, as Mennonites, that we are unaffected, but too many testimonies, mine included, declare otherwise.
Chester lists five “ingredients” for defeating porn: abhorrence of porn, adoration of God, assurance of grace, avoidance of temptation, and accountability to others (17). Succinctly, Tim’s challenge is this: Look beyond the frame – see porn’s empty promises, see how it wrecks relationships and distorts sex, see God’s wrath. But also see His grace that can make you pure. See the beauty of sex as God created it. Most of all see the lasting pleasure Christ offers!
Many have written books on sexual purity, varying in their helpfulness. However, what Chester hits – and many others miss – is the centrality of the gospel in the porn fight. Porn is, at its essence, a heart problem. And no amount of willpower or safeguards or self-esteem will deal with a heart issue. Only Christ, only grace can change hearts!
This book is an excellent resource for pastors and for those who struggle. For the Church, Closing the Window serves as a wakeup call and a resource to face the porn plague. Chester’s straightforward analysis exposes the Church’s silence. For those who are struggling, this book will bare your heart and make you uncomfortable. Sin is an ugly thing. Yet you will find God’s grace sufficient at the end of yourself.