“9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
– John 10:9-10
How would it feel to have every bit of dignity, integrity and purity stripped from your very being with out any choice? What if you were forced to submit yourself to an act against every fiber of your being? Would you choose to comply or die? What are you willing to do in order to stand up for what you think is morally, ethically and spiritually right not only in your mind, but your heart? Are you willing to die? Or will you compromise yourself? Will you stand on the sidelines and watch it happen? Or will you jump into the game and make a difference?
A chord snapped in me the other day when I received an email about a showing of the movie “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” that the university was presenting. It was part of a rally that the Women’s Resource Center was running to promote abuse, addiction and sexual trauma. The movie is based off a book by the author Stieg Larsson who witnessed a gang rape of a 16-year-old girl when he himself was only 15. The Author expressed how much he regretted not doing anything to help her. This book reflected his experience and dealt with a very extreme mystery that consisted of a man who raped many women and killed them, simply for the selfish act of self-gratifying sex. He was a merciless killer who in the end begged for mercy as he died. Interesting how that works, we are completely selfish until we get hurt.
As each scene went by and the plot thickened I became disgusted with the perspective of reality that was being presented in a very pragmatic way. My heart became heavy with the realization that people actually go through the pain of abuse, rape, murder, divorce, and grief while doing their best to maintain a functioning life. That’s so hard to imagine. There are open wounds in the hearts of so many people. College students in broken relationships hungry for a love that won’t disappoint, spouses fighting to remain faithful, children being abused, mistreated and taken advantage of… real people who are just trying to hang on to any amount of life they can! It literally made me sick to my stomach as I sat there, my eyes soaking in every projected frame of pain. You may read this next sentence and think I’m weak or hypersensitive, but I ask that you bear with me and hear my heart and perspective on this subject. I left that movie crying… my stomach was in a knot and I felt like throwing up. That is how moved it made me. We are being desensitized to a growing evil that is penetrating our government, our schools, our generation and our very hearts and minds. Hear me out on this, the world we live in is destined for something far worse and horrific then what I witnessed watching a mere movie if something doesn’t change.
I’m a noticer. I observe people as I’m walking, sitting in class, driving by them or watching them from across the street. I am constantly analyzing peoples behaviors, body language, tone of voice and verbal expressions. No, I’m not a creeper, I just notice. I’m pretty good at knowing when people are telling the truth, stretching the truth and flat out lying. That being said, I tend to interpret peoples interactions a lot. What people react to in a positive and/or negative manner, how people act when they are nervous, scared, excited or angry and the effects those behaviors have on the people around them. Five days a week I walk across campus on various missions. Heading to class, going to the cafeteria or studying somewhere, I’m a regularly on the move. I witness a lot of interactions and it blows my mind how much pain I witness. Girls walk past me all the time complaining about boys, roommates, jobs, and classes; all the while being overly emotional about every microscopic life issue that has to be solved for them in the next 30 seconds. The guys that I observe have a lot in common. They are competitive, tough-wannabes who want to be the coolest, say the most swear words in a sentence and get the most approval. They are self-serving, ignorant, immature specimens. Whether you agree with either of those observations is not the point. The point is the observation itself. People are in need of something greater then what they can provide for themselves. So they seek out a way to get what they want and do it. Sex, drugs, drinking, music, God, Church, religion, hobbies, relationships… when put in the top priority spot they’re all gods. They are mostly fickle solutions to a problem that no can seem to solve. Even God has been misrepresented, characterized in a false manner and turned into a god… not honored as THE God.
We’ve all heard the figures on raping, abuse and sexual violence. 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will report being sexually assaulted by the time they are 18. 1 in 3 women will be assaulted in their lifetime. According to the FBI statistics, a rape occurs every 4 minutes! Approximately every 15 seconds a women is beaten. Approximately 6 children are abuse and neglected in the US every minute. Over 6 million women a year are the victims of domestic violence in the US alone. That doesn’t even include other countries! Whether this is true, or close to the truth, let me put this into a little perspective. By the time you have read this far approximately 24 women will be beaten, 2 rapes will have occurred and countless sexual abuse crimes will have been committed. These acts are happening right now as you read this. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m tired of reading statistics and being shocked, but not surprised and not knowing what to do in order to change those statistics. These men, women and children could be your sisters, your cousins, your best friends or your future children! This isn’t right! These are real people, with real lives, with real pain in a real world that we are REALLY living in!
Sexuality seems to be the general theme for most humor in movies and TV shows and also appears to be the popular menu item for the top charted songs in the US. Isn’t it such a wonderful feeling to know that our societies next generation are listening to role models that are singing about “going all the way tonight, no regrets” because “I want to feel like I’m the only girl in the world”, oh and I must mention that “there’s a place downtown where the freaks all come around, it’s a hole in the wall, it’s a dirty free for all.” In case you don’t catch my drift, I’m very sickened by the disgusting lyrics, poor TV content, news burps, popular movies, celebrity items, product sales and cheep, degrading, selfish advertisements. From my perspective I can’t walk anywhere with out being bombarded with girls who can’t dress modestly, guys who can’t keep their mouth clean and sleazy images screaming for my attention. What is so great about all those things? Nothing. Yet, boys, girls, men, women and everyone in between are being fertilized by the poison of greed, selfishness, jealousy and anger.
I’m sure there are great philosophical debates occurring somewhere in the world about the worlds current state and what the solution to our dilemma is. I’m also fairly confident that many ideas, perspectives and pontifications have been thrown out on the table and then thrown in the trash. When it all comes down to it, this world is simple. We are a broken and selfish people living in a broken and dying world who need something to give us life that will endure the mortal time dimension that we exist in. The answer is simple…. It’s Jesus. There is only one way to live a life that is rewarding, selfless, satisfying, content, and with out worry and that is a life with Jesus. God created humans as a mere image of who He was to share His experience. I have no idea why God created the human race. It seems like an awful lot of pain, disappointment and anguish to put up with, but I think that my lack of understanding is a result of my lack of knowing God’s powerful love to its core. It’s NOT simple!
“ 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” - Hebrews 12:1-3
God loves the abusers and the abused, God loves the rapists and the raped, He loves the assaulter and the assaulted, the master and the slave. I don’t understand it. How can a perfect God love such an imperfect creation? I don’t get how time after time He seeks out the broken reads, the flickering candles and the trampled roses and breathes new life into the world decayed bodies. I believe in this God who saves, who changes and transforms. I believe that God is at work in the hearts of His people and that this world is going to be changed by the power of His love. There is a lot in the society we live in that will manipulate, twist, destroy and decay the character of God, but no matter how hard anyone tried, God’s character will remain untouched and His people will be victorious over death, and over this world we live in. God offers everyone a chance to surrender their load of sin in His hands and be free from all that so easily entangles us. He offers freedom! Take it! Feel it! Rejoice in it!
To bring it back to where I started, I will conclude by saying that I think that the direction the mainstream society is heading is dangerous and filled with corruption. There are so many lies it’s hard to discern what’s real or fake. I haven’t invented a pill, a patch or a drug that can be smoked to cure this problem. However, what I have discovered is a God that blows any other self satisfying element out of the water. I am, and will continue to be, convicted of the reality of Christ. This world has been raped by the devil and the evil that rides in his wake. God is raging a war of purity and righteousness to claim what is His and what He loves. I’m on God’s side and am going to stand up and change the world through my life. I am committed to giving my life to doing what is in my power to keep sexual violence, abuse, addiction, assaulting, and the misrepresentation of God’s name from happening. It’s not by name that I do it, but in the name of Christ Jesus who went to the cross for my broken heart.
Who’s with me?
“1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
– Romans 12:1-3
