Flowers Fade... One Woman's Walk through the Word

Showing posts with label Titus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Titus. Show all posts

5.03.2011

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~

12.15.2010

A Favorite Verse

Yesterday, I got to read one of my favorite passages in the Bible - Titus 2:11-14. This passage has been such an encouragement to me over the past three years or so, and it was read at our wedding this past summer. It's such a beautiful, concise example of what it truly means to live a gospel life. I've always gotten so much out these four short verses of the Bible, but the ESV editors give it even more meaning.

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~

Grace - "One cannot truly claim to be a recipient of saving grace without also being a pupil of 'training grace'." This is one of the biggest changes in my life in recent years. I have always claimed to know God's saving grace, but only recently have I come under his "training grace" - where my life daily reflects my love of Him above all other things. This verse is all about what life actually looks like in the day to day for those who have been touched by God's gospel of grace - Jesus Christ.

Eager expectation - The Greek for the term "waiting" in this verse is "prosdechomai" and it carries the connotation of eagerness. As I get to know my great God and Savior Jesus more and more, I eagerly wait for the day I will see his face and know Him more than I do now.

Holiness - "To forsake Godliness is to despise the sacrifice of Christ." The purpose of Christ's sacrifice was to make his people holy, so that we can appear before our Father in heaven. If I don't strive to be holy and obedient to Christ, I am despising what he did for me on the cross. Because Christ died, I have His Spirit, and therefore I have the ability to say "NO" to ungodliness and "yes" to righteousness.

A Prized Possession - Does it ever strike you as amazing that God loves us? I mean, He actually treasures us, even though we are defiant, needy, dirty failures. God wants us to be his possession, and the connotation in the Greek is a "prized, treasured possession." God enjoys His people. God enjoys me and loves me and values me. It humbles me each and every day.

Zealous for good works - Because of Christ's example of service and ultimate sacrifice for us, we should be doing good works for others. There is no excuse not to live a life of service. My life is completely lacking in this area. I cannot believe how little I serve when I have a servant God who gave everything for me. This quote from the ESV editors is convicting: "There is no room for claiming to be redeemed while providing no evidence of practical transformation." You should be able to see my redemption in the good works I do every day. I have so much to learn...but I have a God who has already saved me and keeps me in training day after day.