“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the
LORD has anointed me To bring good news to
the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives
and freedom to prisoners;”
Isaiah 61:1
This is a blog post that has been on my heart for awhile now. I’ve been mulling over it and thinking of how to put what has been going on in my heart into words.
Let me start a few weeks back. I attended the Passion268 conference in Atlanta at the start of January. It was absolutely incredible! Worshiping my Savior surrounded by 45,000 other college aged believers is an experience I will never forget. It makes my heart happy just thinking about it.
The main “theme” of the conference was human slavery. When someone says the word “slave” to me, I automatically think of the past. I think of William Wilberforce abolishing the African slave trade and think to myself, “Man, I’m glad we don’t have slaves like that today! That was just awful!” But at Passion the veil was ripped from my eyes and I was faced with an enormous, ugly truth.
Slavery still exists.
Did you know there are 27 millions people who are enslaved today? Let me repeat that number for you: 27 MILLION. There are more people enslaved today than ever before in history!! How the heck did I not know this? It’s massive and right in front of me, and I never even knew.
My naivety was not only surprising and upsetting, it is just plain wrong. How could I, who have been set free from my bondage to sin by the blood of my Savior, not see the need of those who are in chains now? How could I not hear the cries of the children who are being sold for sex, being robbed of their innocence and everything that is good and decent, while I sit on the couch and watch TV. How could I just sit by and never know this was happening?
As I watched a video of the stories of three rescued slaves on the big screen at Passion, my heart was broken into a million pieces. They were heart-wrenching! The things these people suffered and went through caused a pain in my heart that I’d never felt before. And I knew that Jesus’ heart was broken too.
When I became a follower of Jesus, I gave Him all of me. I gave Him my life, my dreams, and my future. What a small sacrifice compared to what He gave me. He took me from being an enemy of God (Rom. 5:10), to a child of God (Gal. 3:26). He brought me from darkness into light (Col. 1:13-14). He loosed the chains and set me free (Is. 58:6). What a Savior!!
But with this awesome privilege, comes an even greater responsibility. Now I am to go and tell of this Jesus, who can set the captive free and cleanse the lepers. This Jesus who can calm the sea and give sight to the blind. It is not a burden, but an honor to be called to this mission!
The Lord revealed an overwhelming and heart breaking truth to me at this conference, and I will not sit by any longer! I am not okay with this suffering. I do not know what sort role I am to play in this story, whether it be great or small. But this I do know, I will play a role.
