Speaking Out Against Sex Trafficking

My friend, Anne, just posted this letter yesterday on her blog. I highly suggest you read it. She also wrote a full blog post before the letter (press previous post) explaining her opinion on the issue in more detail.

http://azhappyhour.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/open-letter-to-kiss-fm/

Basically, sex slavery is rampant in our country, especially in Phoenix, which I believe has the 2nd highest rate of the trafficking in the country. Of  course almost everyone thinks sex slavery is wrong - except those sick individuals who manipulate women and sell girls' bodies I guess. But the thing is we don't live like it's wrong. We live like the sex that is so pervasive in our society is okay. It's okay that our films are becoming increasingly illicit and graphic. It takes a lot to even earn an R rating these days. It's okay that there are strip clubs and lingerie stories and adult video shops on every corner in Phoenix. It's okay that boys in elementary and middle school are looking at soft porn on the Internet and will likely be addicted to doing so for the rest of their lives. It's okay that push-up bras are being sold at Abercrombie kids. It's okay if you want to to enter a wet t-shirt contest, a body paint contest, or a hand bra contest like the one Anne is speaking out against in her letter. It's okay for men to buy sex, as long as it's over the Internet or at a strip bar and as long as it doesn't involve actual "intercourse."

Right?

Wrong. Our society's desensitivity to sex is what leads to sex trafficking. It's after men are exposed to pornography, strippers, and prostitutes that they become disillusioned into thinking it might be okay to force a girl into the sex industry. It's after men are sexually abused that they are willing to abuse others. It's when girls think it's fun to wear a wet t-shirt or take off their shirts to win a trip to Vegas or concert tickets (and the attention of every guy at a bar) that these girls soon find themselves surrounded by men who will force them, manipulate them or threaten them to take off their clothes. It's the fault of every Christian man who secretly looks at porn, buys filthy magazines, or rents dirty movies for perpetuating the horrific crime and sin of sex trafficking, and it's the fault of the church for failing to convict and confront these sins. Yes, I said it's your fault "Christian" man - who refuses to repent of your sin of feeding the sex industry of our country by clicking on websites and buying media that filters more money into this sick economy. If no one was buying, they wouldn't have anything to sell right? Shame on Christian men for being the demand in the supply and demand chain of the sex industry in our country. For you, it's only an Internet ad or an adult movie on Netflix, but for someone else it's an actual human being, a young girl that is bought and sold and has no other choice.

*I used the word shame in this post and I hardly ever use the word shame. But the truth of the matter is that shame covers the illicit sex in our country. Shame covers the abuse, the rape, the exploitation. Shame covers the photo shoots of topless models and the back rooms of the strip clubs. Shame covers the computer screens hosting pictures of naked women. But I have a Savior who takes away the shame of the world. I have Savior who redeems, restores, and is "making all things new" (Rev. 21:5). His name is Jesus and He has the power to remove the guilt and shame of the sex industry and impart His grace on both those who instigate these crimes and those who are the victims of these crimes. It is my sincere prayer that Jesus will shed light in the darkest corners of sex trafficking, that He will convict the hearts of those girls thinking about entering KISS 106's hand bra contest and that He will lead the church to repentance over its involvement with this sin and grow up strong, pure, godly male leaders in churches across the country.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

~Titus 2:11-14~

Wanting to be in a Gospel Choir right about now... can you feel the Holy Spirit in this place?

Gosh, the book of Acts is just so good. I fall more in love with it everytime I read it, which hopefully means I fall more in love with Jesus everytime I read it, because the book is all about HIM. Jesus left earth to return to the Father with this message: "...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8) and then Jesus made His command of evangelism possible by sending the Holy Spirit. Seriously, within weeks the Holy Spirit arrives at Pentecost and the believers (about 120 of them at the time) begin preaching the Gospel all around Jerusalem. Soon their numbers total 3,000 and then 5,000 believers. Peter, John and others are persecuted by the same jealous Jewish rulers who killed Jesus, and yet they continue preaching boldly. When they are whipped for sharing the Gospel, they rejoice that "they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name" (Acts 5:41). Jerusalem, check.

Then Stephen is stoned to death for proclaiming the Gospel and many of these new Christians flee Jerusalem for safety, since the church is being persecuted so badly in the city. Where do they flee to? All of Judea and Samaria, of course, and they share the Gospel there. Judea and Samaria, check.

During this time, Saul, who at first is one of the leaders instigating this persecution against the Christians, encounters Christ while on his way to arrest Christians in another city (yes, Jesus is in heaven at this time, but he appears to Saul because He has big plans for Saul's role in the spreading of the Gospel). Quick change of plans. Saul, who eventually is called Paul, converts to Christianity and become the most productive missionary in all of history. Over the course of three long missionary journeys, he is able to carry the Gospel all over the Roman Empire, eventually winding up in Rome itself. During the time period, the Roman Empire covered all of what we now consider Europe and the Middle East and even parts of Northern Africa. Ends of the earth, check.

But I only recap all of this, because I never ceased to be amazed at God's plan to share his Word with all the earth and the way He made it possible through mere men in such a relatively short amount of time. But the truth of it is, it really didn't matter who the men were or where they lived or what they said...they were able to share the Gospel so boldly and effectively because of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was the one causing the apostles to speak in other languages (Acts 2), causing people to be healed simply by standing in Peter's shadow (Acts 5), and creating encounters that lead to repentance and baptism, such as Phillip and the Eunuch (Acts 8).

Evangelism can be tough. People's hearts are hardened. There is so much blindness, ignorance, pride, and selfishness out there, including my own. I am a Christian, and yet I am often blind to who needs the Gospel, ignorant of how to share God's word, prideful and embarrassed to talk about God if it might be awkward or unsuccessful, and selfish because I allow so many other things to fill my time when I could be talking about Christ with people who do not know Him. And yet Christ sent the Holy Spirit to overcome all that. The Holy Spirit sees the hearts of all and knows who will be receptive to the Gospel. The Spirit gives us the words to say. The Spirit can work in spite of our sinfulness and selfishness. He can create encounters, soften hearts, open mouths and ears to the goodness of God in Jesus Christ. Sure, it might not happen the same way it did for the apostles. I might not end up speaking fluently in another language I do not know in order to share Christ, but then again, ANYTHING is possible. The book of Acts gets me excited and prayerful about God's heart for the world and the work of His Spirit on this earth. Who does He want me to talk to today? Who does He want you to to talk to?