That's the approach Craig Gross took when he co-founded the site, xxxchurch.com. I'm sure some of you may have heard about it. Craig believes that sometimes you might have to come off a little surprising if you want people to listen. The start of his career was hosting a booth at a porn show. There, he respected those in the business and gained their respect in return.
In a recent local newspaper article entitled "Live Pure - a radical approach", Craig talked about the importance of not focusing on what people do for a living, but the mere fact that Jesus loves everyone....even porn stars.
His tactic is to reach out to those in the business as well as the consumers of the business. He seems to always try and find a 'cutting edge' approach, such as coming out with a "Jesus Loves Porn Stars" Bible, an accountability software program called X3watch, as well as traveling across the nation to universities, holding porn debates with a well known porn star, Ron Jeremy.
The article listed some of the statistics that xxxchurch is facing head on.
-42.7% of Internet users view pornography (familysafemedia.com/pornography_statistics.html#webpages_country)
-"At a 2003 meeting of the American Academy of Matrimonial lawyers, two-thirds of the 350 divorce lawyers who attended said the Internet played a significant role in divorces in the pat year; with excessive interest in online porn contributing to more than half such cases." (www.divorcewizards.com)
-51% of pastors say cyber-porn is a possible temptation: 37% say it is a current struggle (Christianity Today, Leadership Survey, December 2001)
-100,000 Web sites offer illegal child pornography. (U.S. Customs Service estimate)
One thing Craig said that stood out to me personally was this: "It is time to take a different approach. I don't buy half of the garbage that I see in he supermarket, but that doesn't mean that I am not going to go to the supermarket. I have to make a choice. You can't avoid this [pornography]. You can't avoid the Internet. The whole thing [the Internet] is not bad. You just have to make a conscious and deliberate choice."
If you haven't checked out the site already, please do. It is very informative and can be a great resource for any of you looking for help. You can hear directly from a former porn producer on the home page video which is very enlightening.
Porn can feel like an uphill battle. For those of you losing your grip, people like Craig and myself are here...praying and fighting for you - no matter how taboo we have to get.
Sources: Zeppieri-Caruana, Marisa. "Live Pure: a radical approach." Good News March 2010, Print.
3 comments:
First watch this. Here is the issue, I respect BOTH ministries, so we have to wonder who is right? We have to consider the source.
Craig Gross and Mike Foster (now gone and replaced by J.R Mahon) had a good idea with XXX-Church but have they gone too far? (Their theology aside, as they do come from Mars Hill Bible Church-an emergent church)
Should Todd have berated them over the air like that instead of confronting them in person? (Matthew 18)
All I know is Craig and his crew are out there helping both those in porn and those addicted to it and I don't see any other major Christian group doing the same. Sure their methods may be beyond my tastes but unless I am willing to go out and do what they do, I will cheer them on.
Excellent post Justine, you made me think.
I saw a "xxxchurch" van once in the city.
Hi Justine - Not sure if you check your email often, but I was trying to say thanks a bunch for quoting my article on Craig Gross. I really like your website. You can do alot of good by the telling of your story - Take Care! Marisa, www.Goodnewsfl.org
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