"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12).
When I thought of myself getting involved with bar ministry in the Red Light District, I assumed my heart would break for the girls and the ladyboys who are being bought. I imagined that the johns (the men who are looking for services) would be distasteful, sadistic lowlifes who selfishly are only after one thing. And I thought it would be difficult to find grace for those men.
Well, my heart has been breaking, but not just for the girls and the ladyboys. God's given me compassion for the johns, too.
Last night, I went out with two other women from my team, and our trio decided to have a drink (non-alcoholic) at one of the bars we'd become familiar with. Our friend "Tah" and some of the other girls came to sit with us at the table. We had a good time, joking and laughing in broken English, until a few men (probably in their late 50s, early 60s) walked in. The very animated Tah whispered that she didn't want to go talk to them, that she wasn't ready. But, judging by the look she exchanged with another girl, it was her turn; so she took a shot of whiskey and left us to entertain the new arrivals. We continued to talk with the other girls, but once in a while, I'd sneak a glance at Tah. She's a fantastic actress–lighting cigarettes, rubbing a man's back, leaning on another man–you'd never guess that she really didn't want to be there.
And that's when I had a sad realization: these men probably have no idea that Tah doesn't want to be talking with them. Most of the men who visit the Red Light District, probably think that the girls who grant them all this attention actually find them desirable. They either honestly believe or make themselves believe that they are wanted by these girls. I'm not here to judge, but I can guess that the majority of these men have some degree of self-esteem issue. In fact, to take it a step further, I would say that it's actually an identity issue. They don't understand or have never heard that they are sons of God, that they are–as men–charged with very big and very real responsibilities on earth. They don't understand that their identity lies in the fact that Christ died for them so that they could be co-heirs of a kingdom with Him. They don't see that what they're doing isn't simply just wrong; it's the devil enjoying his tidbits of victory in a world that's decaying with sin.
As much as I'd like to just pin the blame on johns for being irresponsible, passive, selfish, disgusting males, I can't. I can't because I know that they are enslaved to sin just as much as the girls/ladyboys are. It's deception at its finest: men believe that girls find them worth their time, girls believe that that's all they're worth. So they both sit in their puddles of sin, soaking until their souls are so diluted with lies from the enemy that they can't filter out what is good and what is evil. The men just see a visit to the Red Light District as a means of escape and a way to fulfill empty spaces left in their hearts. The girls just see it as a job.
Everyone is a slave, here. The powers of the world drag people down in so many different ways. As I've been learning all year, it's not my responsibility or within my abilities to save people. But God can use me to deliver the message of freedom through the gospel, and I can hope that a seed is planted. I can hope and pray that they leave the road to destruction and allow the Lord to be their new master.
"…Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness…But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:19-23).
