Less than a minute after that most awkward moment, a very
personable young man, a senior campus ministry leader who
had emceed the evening, was standing next to me. Through my
peripheral vision I had seen him walking up to the stage, but I
never thought I’d see him on the stage, right beside me, until I
had finished my talk.
He asked, “Can I say something?”
I’m thinking, Are you kidding me? Now is not the time for
an announcement! With over a thousand pairs of eyes
watching to see how I’d react to this very unusual interruption,
I asked in a whisper, “Right now?”
He nodded his head. I had one second to decide what to do
and, throwing all caution to the wind, handed him the mic.
Unprompted by anyone—including me—he proceeded to
confess his addiction to pornography (since elementary
school) to the entire audience. We were all speechless.
This young man, I later found out, was getting married in the
summer and entering seminary in the fall. He had everything to
lose by coming forward—his reputation would be marred and
his integrity would be questioned for a long time to follow.
Somehow, in that hour, God powerfully both exposed and
demolished the stronghold of a sin that he’d held on to for ten
long years.
Why did he come forward? He appeared to have much more
to gain by keeping his mouth shut than by coming forward.
He heard God talk to him.
He proceeded to invite anyone in the audience to meet with
him the next evening in his dorm lobby to “deal” with
pornography.