Increasing numbers of people in our society are starting to become aware of the real dangers of pornography – not just for the users of it, but also for the women who are often enslaved within the industry. Yet why are so few speaking up about it? In culture that is often passionate about justice issues why does this not get the attention it should? 

In this episode of Pod of the Gaps, Aaron, Andy and Michael seek to address that gap by taking an honest look at this issue. How can Christians speak out without sounding prudish or anti-sex? And how can we best help those enslaved by it (the ‘users’ and the ‘used’)? As ever, we explore this pressing cultural issue with the usual mix of theology, wit, and wisdom.

Some of the resources mentioned on the show:

Nicholas Kristof, 'The Children of Pornhub', New York Times (4 December 2020) — online at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/opinion/sunday/pornhub-rape-trafficking.html

Abigail Shrier, "Irreversible Damage: Teenage Girls and the Transgender Craze" (London: Swift Press, 2021 [2020])

William Struthers,"Wired for Intimacy: How Pornography Hijacks the Male Brain" (London: IVP, 2009)

Episode 19 - The Pornification of Culture

Every Christian should know about ecclesiology. Ecclesiology, from the two Greek words ecclesia and logos is the study of the church. The reason every Christian should be increasingly aware of ecclesiology is quite simple. When someone becomes a follower of Christ because of the miracle of conversion, they are “baptised into the body of Christ” as Paul told the Corinthians: 

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (First Corinthians 12:13)

Therefore, what many new Christians may not know is that when the Spirit leads you to surrender your life of Christ, you are instantly spiritually “baptised” into the family of God! To put this in another way, a Christian is a follower of Christ and thereby a member of the household of God, which is the body of Christ, which is the Church. 

The risks of not being familiar with the biblical foundation for ecclesiology include being misled into thinking that a church is about entertainment and therefore its weekly gathering is merely about attending a performance, a show. Further risks include being told that the church is a corporation to be led by a CEO-type-leader whose primary concern is to the grow ‘the business’ by focusing on financial growth. Both of these two category of risks put vulnerable Christian at risk of being spiritually abused and deceived. 

But the benefits of developing a biblically sound ecclesiology includes:
(i) The avoidance of fads, gimmicks, new trends, which do not comport with what the Scripture teaches.
(ii) A local church is more likely to missiologically adaptive. Churches are subject to the Great Commission of Christ, but they also can adapt the compliance with that mission accordingly to their cultural context.
(iii) Believers can develop the security that their church leaders are not whimsical and are subject to the revelation of God’s Word which has served the Church well since it founding.

The foundation for biblically informed ecclesiology is found in Matthew 16 and in Paul’s Epistles.

Find out more

Ecclesiology, Part 1 - Introduction

This is the podcast, Audio the Matters, where I take the ancient truth of God's Word, explain it, and show how it is relevant for today. I blog. I write. I  eBook. I am currently undertaking another doctorate where I am researching the work of C.S. Lewis in regard to his theological contribution to our understanding of the imago Dei.

Ecclesiology, Part 1 - Introduction

Dr. Andrew Corbett

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