November 13th, 2009 Posted in Mission, Morality | Comments Off
My concern is this. Simply by being there, the Salvos – whether wittingly or not – will be doing one very important favour for the sleaze industry: they will be giving them further legitimacy and acceptability. The one thing the multi-billion dollar a year smut industry wants is to be seen as any other normal, respectable business.
It craves, above all else, respectability, legitimacy, and to be seen as just another way of earning a living. But this, it seems to me, is something we must never do. It is not just another career. It is a vile, exploitative and filthy industry which uses and abuses women, all to make literally obscene profits.
By Bill Muehlenberg
This is one of those issues in which I am of two minds. Yes and no is how I want to respond. There seems to be a bit of merit in either direction. So what am I referring to? The decision by the Salvation Army to have a booth at the notorious Sexpo later this month.
Here is how the Herald Sun introduces the story: “Sex and the Salvos are not the most obvious bedmates. But the Salvation Army will join the likes of Club X, Condom Kingdom, Fluffy Cuffs, Kinky Boots, Savage Lingerie and Awgasm at Melbourne’s Sexpo this month. Its stall will promote ‘Christian understanding of sexuality’ and raise awareness about the human trafficking in prostitution. Salvos social justice director Capt Danielle Strickland will distribute material on human trafficking, the sexualisation of girls and ‘Jesus loves porn stars’ New Testaments, which tell how a porn star found God. But she won’t be preaching moral messages.”
So what is a Christian to make of this? It seems some pluses can be mentioned. It is good that material on the biblical view of sex is being made available, but one can ask if handing such items out at the front of the expo would be a better way to go.
Presumably they are paying good money to have a stall there. Can money going directly into the pockets of the exploitative sex industry be justified? Should one do similar things – and spends similar amounts of money – elsewhere, in order to get a contrary view across?
Another plus would simply be a spiritual presence in such a den of iniquity. But again, is there biblical precedence for this? Paul can speak of it being shameful to even speak of those things which are done in darkness (Eph. 5:11-12).
Of course it will immediately be pointed out that Jesus hung around with sinners. Well, yes of course he did. Indeed, he could do no other. Every singly human being that has ever walked the earth – except Jesus – was and is a sinner. So in that sense he was always amongst sinners on a daily basis.
But what many will have in mind is when the critics of Jesus said that he – and sometimes, his disciples – was a friend of sinners. Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners, for example, exclaimed the Pharisees (eg., Luke 7:34). And yes we have some occasions when women of ill repute came to Jesus.
In Luke 7:36-50 we have one such account. So yes, sinners of all sorts were attracted to Jesus, and came to him. We are not told when the woman in Luke 7 was forgiven, but her actions speak to her having received the Lord’s forgiveness, something the Pharisees could not understand.
But we clearly do not have an account of Jesus going to places specially designated as formal places of obvious sin. We do not read about him going to brothels in order to preach to prostitutes for example. But when such people came to him he of course ministered to them.
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