Book Review: Closing the Window by Tim Chester

Christians and pornography. Depending on who you talk to, you'll get one of three responses: 1) it's a deeper, more wide spread problem within Christianity than we know or want to admit, 2) the problem is overblown and the statistics are imbalanced, or 3) *cough* uhhhhhh, next topic.

In Closing the Window, Tim Chester cites a number of different studies and surveys that have very consistent results: one in three. One in three people in the church are struggling with pornography. While I'm not one to bicker about the numbers, I think it's fair to say that it's a growing problem for each subsequent generation within the church.

And Tim has written a gospel-saturated little book (146 pages) that will be indispensable for anyone leading men, young adults, or a whole church. As one of those leaders, I am constantly looking for books that handle tough topics in a way that is simple, clear, and relatively brief to build a "loaner library". I believe that Tim Chester's Closing the Window is the book for just that purpose.

The structure of the book revolves around "Five Keys in the Battle Against Porn":

1. Abhorrence of porn
2. Adoration of God
3. Assurance of grace
4. Avoidance of temptation
5. Accountability to others

"We become Christians through faith and repentance. We continue and grow by ongoing faith and repentance. And this means that we counter porn through faith and repentance. Battling porn with faith means embracing the truth about God in place of the false promises of porn. Battling porn with repentance means turning from self to worship God."

Westminster Books has the best price I've seen for Closing the Window at 33% off list price ($10.05).

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Recommended for: Pastors, youth workers, men's ministry leaders, porn addicts

This book was a free review copy provided by InterVarsity Press.