ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
January 11, 2022
Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Human Trafficking is often defined as: The exploitation of another person for labor, domestic servitude or commercial sexual activity by force, fraud or coercion. Though Sex Trafficking has received the most attention in recent years, the exploitation of workers in food processing, restaurants and farming is some of the most significant. With that said, any modern day slavery in any capacity is unacceptable. As followers of Jesus, we have to acknowledge how the Bible is not clean on this issue. In both the Old Testament and New Testament, there are troubling passages that appear to give divine blessing to certain people being owned by other people. People have tried to spin it, suggesting that slaves in those days were treated very nicely. I wonder if people who say those words really hear what they are saying. Yet even today, I have heard people suggest how undocumented workers who were exploited in the tomato field of South Florida deserved what they got. I’m pretty sure God doesn’t have exemptions for the abuse or enslavement of human beings for any reason. In Deuteronomy 5, the people are reminded how they were once slaves, yet those words were spoken to every generation that followed. I believe God invites us to remember how other human beings have been and continue to be enslaved, and because of our common humanity, we should do whatever is necessary to eliminate any form of slavery. It doesn’t matter who they are, what they’ve done, where they live or the color of their skin. The moment we begin devaluing one person’s humanity is the moment we devalue all of humanity’s value. Amidst some of the troubling passages of slavery, we are reminded how we should never forget those who were or are enslaved. We can do better. We must do better.
Today, I pray for all those who are trapped and exploited in this world. Holy God, your goodness and divine image rests upon every single human being, no matter what some people might believe or how one group might seek to treat another. May this conviction of faith inform how I live and work in this world. Amen.
