Sean McDowell advises pastors on how to help congregants move toward healing, emphasizing two main recommendations: (1) use and encourage storytelling—testimonies are more memorable and motivating than abstract statistics; (2) study and discuss the new report on pornography’s effects (including trauma experienced by spouses and families) with staff and small groups to discern appropriate, context-sensitive pastoral responses. He highlights that facts wake people up but stories move them, and urges churches not to ignore the prevalence of pornography-related harm.
Foreign with that.
And even just what you've shared about, you know, pastors having a great opportunity. Is there any other piece of advice? You know, pastors, you've said, we've said they don't have to be the specialists or the experts, but just what advice could you give pastors to just show that they can be the, the place to help people in their church move forward and find healing.
So I would say two things. I think one thing that's really powerful, people or people, is just stories. So Jesus asked questions. In fact, there's 340 questions he asked in the Gospels and Acts. In the letters of Paul, there's 262. And Jesus told stories. Why? We relate to stories, we remember stories, we enjoy stories. I think in part that's why the Bible talks about defeating, you know, Satan's lies with the power of our testimony. A story, not just facts. And so this report is full of the facts and data that we need to understand what's going on. And facts wake people up, but it's stories that people relate to. So I would really encourage pastors to just tell stories or find people in their church who are willing to appropriately share stories in the right way, like the two of you have bravely done here. And beyond mean. Ashley, I can't imagine what you went through sharing your story. I have so many questions for you. And I see why in this new report, there's a, a whole section that's new that wasn't in the 2016 porn phenomenon about the trauma that spouses and others experience when somebody's looking at pornography and how we address that. That's another elephant in the room that's left out. But it's telling stories, sharing stories that empowers people and motivates them to say, you know, what if Joe and my church looked at pornography and he got healing, so can I. That's more powerful than saying 27% of people who experience this got healing. It's like, well, that's just a stat in the abstract world. But it's Joe in my church, it's, you know, Brenda in my church. So I want to encourage pastors. Stories, stories, stories. And the last thing I would say is I did a deep dive on this and I'll share with you. Before we went on, I both have a podcast, a YouTube channel where my co host and I go into this study and talk about it. And my final suggestion, I'm saying it here because I said it there, not because you invited me on, but I really think this study is a gift for the church. It's eye openening, it's relevant, it's sobering. But there's also some encouraging things in it. So small group leaders, pastors, take your staff through it and just talk about it and pray about it and ask God for wisdom. How in your particular setting to address this. Because I promise you, it's in every church on some level, it's affecting every family. It's there. And we're only fooling ourselves if we're not willing to look at the data. And you guys have laid it out here in an easy to study report that I just hope more people will really, really take seriously.
