Metro Youth Network

Once again I have the privilege to participate in the metroyouthnetwork ministry; this time the assignment is “justice.” Initially my thoughts circulated around the excitement of being able to say something about a subject that has been a constant companion throughout my years of officer-ship ministry due to the assignments that came along in my various appointments.

Children and youth at risk – from families at risk; often neither child nor family is at fault. Too frequently they fall in-between the cracks, as we say. Often our own organization inadvertently allows that process and we keep them out of reach from having crucial spiritual and social needs met; often “we” don’t see that it happens. Justice then fails and fails within our own community. Throughout my service I have had the privilege to engage in advocacy designed to prevent that from happening.

So – I sat down, paper and pencil at hand, all set to let my passion and erudition flow – to the benefit of presumed readers. And yet – the thoughts raced around in my head and heart, getting mixed up with one another. How to reduce all that passion to a 500-word presentation immediately paralyzed my pen; failed efforts seemed to be the only response with far too many words.

I then sought the aid of Webster to get me started; justice is defined as “just behavior or treatment – concern for genuine respect for people.” Hmm! And – “behaving according to what is morally right and fair.” Another hmm!

How do we make sense of today’s myriad of social and justice issues; they seem to overwhelm us with no easy solutions. Often it seems the overarching issue just gets more confusing and unmanageable. We settle for the exotic, or the new trends – or we paralyze and do nothing. The unjust situations right in front of us –in the midst of our own corps communities – are overlooked.

The author of the book of Hebrews (12:3) seems to have found the secret as to how to make sense of the confusion, saying “when I grow weary…I consider Him!” (exclamation mine)

The Creator, our Father, states His position and in Exodus 23:6 commands: ”do not deny justice to your poor people;” in Isaiah 28:17:”I will make justice the measuring line.” A further reflection and delving into Hebrews 12, helps me to take note of the several “us” in that chapter of the Scriptures – there is no “I” or other indication of solo pronoun. When we live in community, we make it as a community – we are blessed as a community. Here I find part of the answer. Ron Sider and John Perkins in their recently published book urge us to Link Arms, Link Lives as the solutions for the children, youth and families falling in-between (the Army) cracks in my community, in your community. Can you – will you – link arms with your fellow Salvationists and join for the sake of justice?

When I was 18, barely out of high school, with my head barely attached to my shoulders, I went on my first Summer Missions Team around the Central Territory. Of course, we spent the entire summer working with young kids and after I came home I would often joke that the LORD had revealed to me that I was in fact, NOT called to work with kids. I just felt like I had a hard time relating to them, a hard time understanding them, a hard time putting up with their… everything they do!

Flash forward a few years; a huge part of my job with The Salvation Army is working with elementary school kids. God has a great sense of humor! I spend close to 20 hours a week surrounded by the little guys and girls. Some are polite and respectful, some are complete jerks. Some are hilarious, some constantly annoying. I’ve learned though, over the past few years, what an incredible opportunity and blessing it is to work with young children. They are hungry for the Word, for truth, for purpose and meaning!

Last week I got an email from The Salvation Army’s Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking (IAST) that broke my heart. It was a link to an article, the headline which read, “NJ teen sold stepsister, 7, for party sex.” The details are highly disturbing. But even more disturbing is the fact that this is not an isolated, uncommon incident. Atrocities like this are committed daily against children, men and women around the globe—God’s sons and daughters, created in His image and imprinted with His Spirit.

I pray most of you reading this have at least been made somewhat aware of the scourge on our world that is Human Trafficking; men and women bought and sold in slavery, most often for sexual purposes. This is perhaps the most vulgar and clear cut example of the evil spreading through our world, but it is also represented by prostitution, by widespread rape in the Third World, and by instances like the one described in the article mentioned above. This evil happens because there is a demand for it! And that demand is born, nurtured, and matured in the evil of pornography. It is well documented that men and women who sexually abuse children, visit prostitutes or commit rape and other sexual crimes almost always have a history of regular pornography use.

We as the Body of Christ will be hard pressed to turn the tide against rape-as-a-weapon in war zones, human trafficking, prostitution and abuse until we heed the call and admit that there is a connection between those injustices and our world’s pornography consumption. Pornography is a base cause of and a gateway to some of the most horrible injustice that the church is called to fight, yet we are largely ignoring it. We don’t talk about it, we’re not accountable for it and we pretend like it’s not a problem.

The world has a problem with pornography:

• 40 million U.S. adults regularly visit Internet pornography websites.
• Breakdown of male/female visitors to pornography sites: 72% male & 28% female.
• 20% of Men admit to having accessed pornography while at work.
• 17% of all women struggle with pornography addiction.
• Two-thirds of the divorce lawyers attending a 2002 meeting of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers said excessive interest in online porn contributed to more than half of the divorces they handled that year.
• 1 in 7 youths received sexual solicitation online.
  Average age of first Internet exposure to pornography is 11 years old.
  90% of 8-16 year olds have viewed porn online.

The Church has a problem with pornography:

• 47% of Christians said pornography is a major problem in the home.
• 53% of Christian men consume pornography.
• 37% of pastors say it’s currently a struggle.
• An internet survey conducted by Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in 2002 found 30 percent of 6,000 pastors had viewed internet porn in the last 30 days.

Pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry. Whether or not you realize it, it is engaged in a war with our culture and our world, and our very brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers are the casualties—both those whose lives are torn apart by the sin of others and those committing these atrocious acts. So my question is why are we not fighting back?

The fight starts with taking action towards purity. That means first opening a dialogue about our struggles and taking away the power of the Enemy’s lies. At Re:Generation this past winter, young adults from all over the Central Territory stood up and admitted that they struggled with an addiction to pornography. You are not the only one! Honesty and accountability mean freedom. And we were created for freedom! So the first thing we need to do is strip away the shame and guilt and admit to someone we trust that we have a problem. Speak with your Corps Officer, youth pastor, or someone else at your Corps of the same sex to help you.

The second thing we need is protection. For years I struggled to resist the temptation of internet pornography, and I failed often. Then I wised up and bought an internet filter. They are extremely affordable (around $40 a year!) and very effective. Will they sometimes be annoying? Yes. Is it worth it? Undoubtedly! Again, speak with your youth pastor or CO if you can’t afford a filter or want to explore the option.

We also need to be praying for our world, and especially our generation. We need to decide that it’s not okay for the enemy to kill, steal, or destroy us any longer. We need to pray against his schemes, and throughout the fight, to know that the battle is the LORD’s and to rely on His strength alone.

RESPOND

Get educated, get help:
http://www.xxxchurch.com

http://www.pornharms.com

The Salvation Army’s Initiative Against Sex Trafficking:
http://www.iast.net/

Get a filter:
http://www.internetsafety.com

Don’t have a youth pastor or Corps Officer of the same sex at your Corps? Need help, advice, or someone to talk to? The Youth Department staff is here for you! Get in touch.

• Major Marc Johnson (Divisional Youth Secretary) – marc_johnson@usc.salvationarmy.org
• Major Karen Johnson (Divisional Youth Secretary) – karen_johnson@usc.salvationarmy.org
• Nate Irvine (Director of Youth Evangelism and Discipleship) – nathan_irvine@usc.salvationarmy.org

Please stand with me (yes, right there by your computer!), click on the link below, and sing our national anthem (okay, if you are in a library, just whisper – but still stand up!).  As you do, concentrate on the images that will remind you of the struggles we have faced in our history as a nation:

While the song you just heard might be unfamiliar to you, hopefully the images are not.  It’s a part of our U.S. history that should cause us to reflect and move us to compassion.  “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, or the Negro National Anthem as it is commonly referred to, became part of black culture within the U.S. as an anthem for Americans who were not always treated as Americans; as people who were not always treated as people.

I first heard the Negro National Anthem in 1986 when the people in my first appointment as a new Salvation Army Officer – the Chicago Lawn Corps – informed me that February was Black History Month (which I had heard of) and that we were going to sing this song (which I had not heard of) every week in our Sunday meetings as we observed the progress and example of African Americans in the United States.

But while I heard the stories of so many black people and marveled at the achievements which were often under appreciated and under recognized, what impacted me most was the example of the black people I learned to know, work with, and love.  It was the example of my black soldiers who continued to meet for worship when the Ku Klux Klan marched in the streets around their corps building, or when a racially motivated arsonist threw an incendiary device through the window which would require massive cleanup and renovation.  It was the example of Mrs. Geneva Brown, who put her arms around a very angry boy and told him, “Don’t hate, don’t hate…”, and the example of Mrs. Dempsey Jones and the sisters, Mrs. Adeline and Mrs. Christine Kirkwood, who learned to love the very diverse population in our corps neighborhood, a neighborhood where they would never feel safe living in even though they worked and worshiped there.  It was the example of people who showed grace and love to individuals who were sometimes dirty, angry, hurting, and mentally or emotionally unstable.

And it was the example of those who, despite having experienced discrimination in their own personal lives, yet by God’s grace were putting into practice the Mission Statement of The Salvation Army:  “…to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in his name without discrimination,” day in and day out.  These are my heroes – those who loved and prayed and put into action what they believed as Christians and as soldiers of The Salvation Army.  Those who, by their example, changed people’s hearts and minds and lives – including my own!

This is Black History Month – but for me it is more, it is Black HERO Month.

“Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand.  True to our God, true to our native land.”  I choose to stand alongside these people, my heroes.  Won’t you choose to stand with us as well, not only this month, but every day of your life?  Start today!