Have you ever noticed there isn’t a homeless Barbie? Not a recovering addict Barbie? There aren’t these Barbie’s for a reason. As I mentioned yesterday, that isn’t conducive to their target market. That doesn’t mean, if they were true to representing the women of our society that these women wouldn’t be represented. They would certainly not be the top selling dolls, but they would be there. Little girls would probably not choose those dolls, and who could blame them?
How much different are we?
We, as humans…and more so, Americans, love to pick and choose when we put in front of us. I remember talking to a bunch of teenagers and they sat there with the jaws open when I mentioned that sex trafficking happens in Ohio to the tune of 1,800 girls a year. Many were shocked that prostitution existed in nearby Akron. I don’t fault anyone in particular for that, how do you go about having that conversation with your child? My point is that somehow, we have to become more aware of situations in which people are caught in slavery of one form or another. If we are aware, we must find some way to make a difference.
We don’t like to think of the tough matters. We don’t like to wrestle with the deeper matters of God. In this case I think they go hand in hand. We don’t understand how to reach them, but how long can we allow that to be an excuse? By our actions, do we somehow justify that we matter more than they do? Think about it before glossing over with the normal answer. Do we somehow think that we matter more? God loves those who are oppressed. We know this to be true because of how He answered Israel when they called out to Him time and again. We see in the New Testament that He lived this truth out by living and doing life with those that were thought very little of.
Meanwhile the religious who thought that everyone should want to be a part of their group, well, those are the people Jesus seemed to have a problem with.
Are we so much different now?
We are far from the world that God intended, we have become very man made and man focused. With that we see that some of the most horrible tragedies have taken place in moments of war and in ongoing slavery of the defenseless. Where is the church? Why has sex trafficking become this 32 billion dollar industry? Where have we been? Why do girls that are kicked out of their home so easily found by predators, but the girl never even thinks of finding the church?
This is not a Barbie world. There are girls out there that are not Barbie girls. They are trapped and in need of rescue. I believe this is an example of part of the mission of the church. God is not a Barbie God, we take Him for all that He is, this includes the calling to go out and bring the good news of His freedom to those who are poor, the prisoners, the oppressed, and the blind in both the spiritual sense as well as the very literal.
**I won’t make any apologies for the heaviness of this; it isn’t my intention to be depressing or harsh but to speak from an honest heart. I also understand that there are many other atrocities going on in this world, I just chose sex trafficking because it has hit a chord with my heart.
1 comment:
There is motel next to where I live and I could see those hookers always standing at the crossroads. It's sad...
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