I am not a slave-holder. I have an iPhone. The lines of social norms in our society move quickly these days.
But human slavery is very real in our culture, and it’s likely that in a crowd the size of my “friends” list on Facebook, some may have used their iPhones to promote human trafficking and slavery—perhaps very recently. Let me explain.
To be clear, we’re all enslaved to something or someone. What enslaves you? Let’s look at what the Bible says about slavery.
In Romans 6:16-22, the Apostle Paul suggested that he was a slave to righteousness.
“Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. . . [N]ow that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”
This, then, is “God’s design” for slavery. Since we are to be slaves to something, to what do we choose to be enslaved? Saint Augustine put it this way:
“In the house of the Lord, slavery is free. It is free because it serves not out of necessity, but out of charity… Charity should make you a servant, just as truth has made you free… you are at once both a servant and free: a servant, because you have become such; free, because you are loved by God your Creator; indeed, you have also been enabled to love your Creator… You are a servant of the Lord and you are a freedman of the Lord. Do not go looking for a liberation which will lead you far from the house of your liberator!”
But slavery is not for us to choose for others. When we choose to enslave our fellow man, that’s something entirely different–and sinful. Let’s discuss this involuntary, forced trafficking and the slavery that relates to that iPhone of ours.
We’ve all had our encounters with truth that left us looking in the mirror as a failure. We will inevitably fail to measure up to God’s plumb line of truth. We are human, and even if your world view suggests that man is basically good, it doesn’t take long driving down the interstate to realize that man can also be basically bad. My worldview informs me that mankind is fundamentally flawed. We will always fail to measure up to Jesus’s example for us.
There was a time in my life when I really didn’t know what pornography was. I mean, I went to an all-male school so I was certainly acquainted with it. I had seen it. But I’ve come to realize that for both the reader and the people appearing on those pages, pornography enslaves. That’s what it is—human trafficking and slavery.
And now we hear and read about the reality of human trafficking in our communities and that we support this slavery when we engage pornography via iPhones, computers, and the internet. Such slavery may exist in your house and in your family and in your circle of influence leaving broken lives, shattered marriages, orphaned children, and profits to the slave-holders of our day. This is not God’s design for us. Read the book.
So, what to do? You don’t have to “measure up” to God’s expectations of you to do something about trafficking and slavery.
First, turn from your sin. You cannot rail against abortion and euthanasia during the day, and yet watch trash that Hollywood puts out at night. Such double-mindedness leads you away from the house of your Liberator.
Then, do something about the terror of human trafficking in your midst. Our cable was turned off fifteen years ago. Talk to your family and circle of influence about how pornography is slavery to sin and promotes trafficking.
We have been given time, talent and treasure to steward on behalf of the One who gives us everything. How much of the 168 hours you will have this week will be spent on sin? On righteousness? How much of your talents will be brought to bear to ease the pain of brokenness for someone caught up in this slavery? Are there margins of treasure you can bring to bear to those called of God to engage the complexity of this malaise that invades our culture?
Here’s one suggestion. The Brushfires Foundation is an organization that has waded into the mire of broken lives and shattered hope wrought by the slave-holders of culture. When I couldn’t stand idle in the face of this complex problem, I found that the Brushfires Foundation had a comprehensive answer. They are speaking truth to the power of slavers and I’m all over it. They could use your support. There’s a matching gift fund-raiser on-going. How about establishing a monthly gift? Contribute if you can: https://infogr.am/brushfires_2017_taxrefundraiser
I would apologize for the length of this post today, but that’s what the slavers would want. If you’re like me, I didn’t come to this reality of human trafficking in our midst by reading a one-page press release or hearing a thirty-second sound bite. The slavers know it takes a while. They really wouldn’t want you to think about it anyway. That’s the meaning of the word “a-muse”. They believe they’re offering you amusement. But when you think about it, it’s real worldly enslavement in our day.
Need prayer? Check out Pray-Love-Heal. It’s one of the many resources The Brushfires Foundation provides.
And your sin? Give it up and be freed—both you and the captives. Stop promoting human trafficking. Stop looking at this stuff. You won’t be perfect. We are all still human. But, get on the road home to the house of your Liberator.