2 Corinthians 3:17 says “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” That has been our cry and call to the church during the past 3 months on the Justice and Worship tour. We believe that this freedom is for us as followers of Jesus, but also that as a result of this freedom we are called to bring freedom to those who are in slavery around the world.
Jesus has called us as followers of Him to be doing Justice. Micah 6:8 tells us that God has called us to ‘do justice.’ This is not a suggestion, it is a necessary part of walking out our faith in Jesus. So many of us hear about slavery, poverty, trafficking, food and water issues and don’t know how to respond. As Gary Haugen says “we move from a place of ignorance to paralysis when we first hear about huge issues of injustice.” Jesus is not calling us to live in a place of paralysis or passivity in regards to areas of injustice, he is calling us to live in a place of action.
This action starts with us as followers of Jesus. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, freedom for us the believer, but then what we do with our freedom, how do we walk in that freedom? I believe that part of that is setting the captives free. How does this work if you are a student, parent, worker, or any other place that most of us are in where we can’t just drop what we are doing, move to SE Asia and rescue slaves? It starts with one step, and that step is to walk in obedience to Christ and to do something. Here are a few steps that we can take.
1. Pray daily about issues of slavery and injustice. Set an alarm on your phone to go off at a specific time each day that reminds you to pray.
2. Read a book on slavery, like Disposable People or Not For Sale.
3. Take action with IJM or by downloading the Free 2 Work app and shop smart.
4. Tell others about issues of slavery.
5. Give
Picture by Vanessa Hadford
