Friday, February 11, 2011

Unlikely Messenger

He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings utter darkness into the light. Job 12:22

As I stood in the pulpit of a small country Baptist church with the bright Sunday morning sunshine beaming through the stained glass windows, it hit me. How much more unlikely a messenger could you find? A short round woman with a hyphenated last name speaking in a southern Baptist church. Only God could make that happen.

Here I was delivering a message about sex trafficking of children and the slippery slope of pornography into child pornography. I talked about how the offenders are in our churches and how God was tired of those who call themselves by His name destroying the lives of children. I talked about how it was His time to shine light on this issue and how He was going to start in His own House!

I shared the story of a pastor we know—a pastor with a wife and two children --who was arrested for child pornography. I wondered aloud what would happen to his family. I wondered what his church could have done to minister to him when he first became involved, before he slipped down that slippery slope. I wondered what could happen if we as a Church started talking about pornography. How many more of him are there?

Unfortunately, I knew the answer. There are thousands. In my research I learned this was not an isolated case. Although that thought sickened the human side of me, the missionary side recognized the need to minister to the offenders. God still loves them; He will hold them accountable but He still loves them. We must hold them accountable and we must love them.

God must really be ready to shine light on this evil if He's using such an unlikely messenger. We must be ready for what He brings into the light.