UNCOMMEN: Traffickedنموونە

Connecting the Dots

There is a direct connection between pornography and sex trafficking. I hope that got your attention as it did mine when I learned it several years ago. I was speaking to a person who works at a non-profit that actively seeks to rescue men and women who are being trafficked.  

You may not realize that behind the scenes of major events like the NFL Superbowl, World Series, Olympics, Mardi Gras, Burning Man, and any other major gathering, groups of people get together and buy people for sex. 

I would imagine no little girl or boy wants to grow up to be a prostitute or sex slave. 

Statistic: Human trafficking is now the second most profitable criminal activity in the United States! 

You're probably asking yourself, "How does this involve me?" 

If you've ever looked into the porn industry from a numbers standpoint, you'd see a direct connection to watching porn and the sex trafficking industry. When you and I look at porn, we are the demand to the supply-and-demand equation. In a 13-billion-dollar-a-year industry, someone is looking at porn. We'll touch on industry stats, practices, and solutions in the next few days.

For now, let's turn our attention back to our scripture verse. In Matthew 5:28, we see that Jesus has set the standard when it comes to adultery—by just looking at a woman with lust in our hearts. Because men are so wired to be visual, it seems to be very difficult to avoid looking at a woman without lust at some level. Once you and I put a device in our hands that makes getting pornography easy, it's become almost impossible to avoid. 

It used to be Playboy magazine and the adult video section of a video store was the lure. Those memories seem to be almost G-rated compared to what we are exposed to and what we expose ourselves to every day. 

Men (and women) contact me frequently, telling me of their porn addiction and asking what we can do to help them. 

The real question is, what are we doing about it?

Uncommen questions:

• Do you find that you are addicted to watching pornography?
• Do you understand the connection that porn has with the sex trade industry?

Uncommen challenge:

We all have those situations that lead us to temptations. My challenge to you and I is not to put ourselves in those situations. If you find that being alone allows your mind to wander, try to avoid being alone for long periods. Schedule activity when you know you're going to be tempted. 

Scripture reference: Matthew 5:28