ornography is huge business, and, like most huge business ventures, the people who make all that money are not too concerned about whether their "product" is good for us. In the United States "adult entertainment"--the term pornography seems to have too many negative connotations for an industry seeking greater mainstream acceptance--collects an estimated US$10 billion per year, more than Hollywood's movies, more than the rock music industry, and, disturbingly, about equivalent to total U.S. foreign aid.*

Observers suggest this is a 1,000 times increase over the past 30 years--meaning perhaps there is about 1,000 times as much pornography around us than there was in the 1970s. Of course, the magazines and books are long-standing sources, but the introduction of the video cassette saw pornography take off. The next quantum leap was the Internet, presently offering more than 300,000 sources of pornography at the click of the mouse. Industry leaders suggest that as online video technology improves, the industry will continue to grow by as much as 500 percent per year. As it is, research suggests that 60 percent of all web use is sex-related and that 30 percent of unsolicited e-mail contains pornographic information.

Like many other social trends, Christians are not immune from the temptation and impact of pornography. In recent times a number of honest--and brave--Christian leaders or artists have admitted their struggles with pornography. In Men's Secret Wars, Patrick Means suggests that more than 60 percent of Christian men struggle with some form of sexual addiction or compulsion (and it's not an issue solely for males). Yet this is another issue upon which the church has been largely silent or, worse, has merely staged ugly protests--the kind that involve "Burn in Hell" placards outside industry gatherings--against the people of the industry.

But check out www.XXXchurch.com (or if you have filtering software, try www.x3church.com). Billing itself as the "#1 Christian porn site," XXXchurch.com was founded by two California youth pastors, Mike Foster and Craig Gross, to respond to this very real social issue, with a particular focus on young people and the trap of pornography addiction. The web site features information, such as some of the Internet statistics quoted above, counseling services, frank discussion, humorous and quirky responses to somewhat delicate issues, and a "Prayer Wall" forum. The site also offers free accountability software that when installed will keep a list of questionable web sites visited each month and forward these to a nominated accountability partner.

With the XXXchurch.com site set up, Foster and Gross pondered how to promote the site. Their bold plan: set up a booth in the middle of the adult entertainment industry expo in Las Vegas--the largest pornography convention in the world, attracting more than 75,000 people over four days. Their presence was noticed by the media and the story picked up by TV stations, the Los Angeles Times, and even a six-page article in the May 2003 issue of Penthouse magazine, among others. The result: more than 25 million web visitors and 50,000 downloads of the accountability software in their first two years.

But perhaps even more significant was the personal interaction at the expo and continuing contacts with people in the pornography industry. At the Las Vegas expo, Foster and Gross distributed "Jesus loves Porn Stars" postcards and more than 1,000 Bibles.

"For the most part it was totally positive," commented Gross. "We do get a laugh out of a lot of people with the 'XXXchurch' banner, with the 'Jesus loves Porn Stars' postcards. We don't come off as the church that they're used to. They're like 'Are these guys for real? Is this really a porn site?'

"Once they find out, it's kind of the reverse. When you're picketing outside, they don't even want to talk to you. But you add a little bit of humor or a tag line that's maybe a little odd, and now they're kind of on your side."

That strikes me as something Jesus would do.
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*Jessica Williams, 50 Facts that Should Change the World.

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Nathan Brown is editor of the South Pacific edition of Signs of the Times and the South Pacific Division Record