Evidently, the Salvation Army in South Africa will take part in the “Health, Sexuality and Lifestyle Expo” near Johannesburg in order to remind people that “sex is not always sexy.” According to the Agence France Presse (AFP) report, the conference also feature “porn stars, pole dancing, hypnotists and an amateur strip show.”
In the same press release, the Salvation Army offered several justifications for this controversial action. The religious organization professes to be raising awareness about human trafficking and sex slavery, saying “If Jesus Christ was on earth today, he would be standing beside us at Sexpo.” “We’re not going there to condemn anyone. We aren’t going to lecture people,” added spokeswoman Carin Holmes, “We’re going there to be available.”
The Salvation Army’s decision remains confusing on many levels. First of all, Holmes’s statements mark a betrayal of General William Booth’s legacy. While he and his fellow workers were no strangers to seedy levels of human existence (including prostitution), they worked to call sex workers and everyone else to repentance from such lifestyles. In the spirit of charity, they offered many services and ministries that allowed those trapped in poverty to escape morally degrading careers. Booth would certainly have been witnessing to Sexpo attendees, probably preaching sin and grace atop a soapbox. He would not have milled about the exposition tables “to be available.” Holmes’s qualms about “lecturing people” belies an anemic understanding of Christian holiness, especially as the Salvation Army has understood it in all of its existence.
Secondly, participation in a pornographic conference fails to resemble Christ’s habit of breaking bread with prostitutes and tax collectors. The Sexpo is a place where leaders in the legalized sex industry advertise and promote themselves–it is where sin is promoted as an industry. Hardly a parallel exists in the pages of Scripture. This does not mean Christians cannot minister in creative ways in response to new avenues for vice; it does mean that the Salvation Army failed to offer bold, solid rationale for its attendance. Unless the Army’s intention is evangelism, it seems irresponsible for Christians to offer credibility to such a vitiation of humanity.
The Sexpo’s very nature clashes with the Salvation Army’s purpose to stop sex slavery and trafficking. The purchase, consumption, use, or any such legal sponsorship of pornographic material worsens the illegal problems. Studies, research, and investigations report that the kind of behavior and business celebrated at Sexpo encourage exploitation of human beings, especially the young and women. And this does not even begin to address the horribly damaging affects that “legal” sexual material has on the human soul. If the Salvation Army does want to fight human trafficking, they are at the wrong exposition.
Consider this Strike Two for the Salvation Army’s social witness this year.
Comment by Rev. Karen Booth on August 30, 2013 at 10:53 am
Hi Bart … this question is not meant as a criticism of you or of your thought-provoking post. I wondered how you feel about XXXChurch. They take similar actions in hosting booths at porn conventions. I have to admit I have mixed feelings about it. What do you think?
Comment by Bart Gingerich on September 2, 2013 at 10:45 am
That’s a good distinction to make. I don’t always know how to think about what XXX church does–how effective is evangelism done that way? I don’t know. I know that they go to the events to specifically reach the lost within a very dark industry. They have a stated purpose for being there–confronting participants with the gospel message, engage in questioning the sex entertainment lifestyle, etc.
This still contrasts with what I see with the SA, which is there primarily to fight human trafficking. If that’s truly the case, then it’s self-defeating. Porn, etc. increases trafficking. And being “present” is a far piece from engaging workers/performers with the news of Jesus Christ.
Comment by Bronwyn Jones on August 31, 2013 at 12:08 pm
Dear Bart,
The Salvation Army are not followers of William Booth, but follow Jesus Christ. Having said that, I recall that Jesus had a special appointment with a woman at a well – going out of his way to do so. He made himself ‘available’ to her at a time when she would be there. John 4. There is a great deal more meaning to being available than just standing around. People don’t want to be preached at anymore. They will not tolerate it. However, people still respond to love and compassion. An example left to us by Jesus. Do not criticise them for their action of compassion. Rather be afraid of the church choosing to rather turn a blind eye. May God place them in the right place at the right time to win souls.
Comment by Greg Paley on September 3, 2013 at 9:54 am
You are mistaken. It is human nature to LOVE to be preached at – but the preaching topics change over time. True, it’s getting difficult to gain an audience for the basic gospel message (all men are sinners, Christ can save them), but the itch for a scolding persists, so long as the preacher sticks to the favorite topics – racism, sexism, homophobia, worship of the environment, the usual liberal list. As for people responding to Christians’ love and compassion, I learned while living in the Hampton Roads area that the local media enforced a “blackout” on Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network’s various global ministries, of which there were many, engaged in all sorts of humanitarian activities – NEVER reported in the local media, who had colluded to cover Robertson’s verbal faux pas but not the ministry’s works of compassion. That is just one example: all evangelical churches that I know of engage in ministries to the homeless, jobless, battered women, unwed mothers, many many others. The media ignore those, and so most people are not aware of them, unless they attend the church or have been touched by the ministries. People see what they want to see.
Comment by Dave Gingrich on September 3, 2013 at 9:24 am
Kudos to the Salvation Army for being in the world but not of it.
Comment by Steve Finnell on September 30, 2013 at 5:23 am
MULTIPLE CHOICE?
The following are multiple choice interpretations of Scripture.
Matthew 3:16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him,
Choices:
1. After being immersed, Jesus came up immediately from the water…
2. After being sprinkled, Jesus came up immediately from the water…
3. After having water poured on Him, Jesus came up immediately from the water….
Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Choices of Interpretations:
1. Peter said to them, “Repent for the forgiveness of sins and be baptized as a testimony of your faith to the community; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
2. Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ because your sins have already been forgiven; and you have already received the gift of the Holy Spirit, the minute you believed.”
3. Peter said said to them, “You were saved the minute you believed, now be baptized so you can join the denomination of your choice”
4. Peter said to them, “Your sins were forgiven the minute you believed; now be baptized as an act of obedience.
5. Peter said to them, “You have had your sins forgiven by faith only, water baptism is nothing but works that you have to do in order to become a member of the Baptist church.”
6. Peter said to them, “Do be concerned about repentance and water baptism for the forgiveness of sins; because in the original Greek, for means, because of, and remember God is not smart enough to give mankind a trustworthy translation of His word.
Romans 6:4-6 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so that we too might walk in newness of life.
Choices of Interpretations.
1.Therefore we have been buried with Him through sprinkling…
2. Therefore we have been buried with Him through pouring…
3. Therefore we have been walking in newness of life before we were buried in baptism, because we were saved the minute we believed.
4. Therefore we have not been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. We had faith only and walked in the newness of life. Baptism had nothing to do with our walk. Water baptism is nothing but a work of the Law of Moses or perhaps just a good deed.
Men have a choice, they can believe the Scriptures, as written or pick an interpretation invented by denominational church leaders. WE ALL HAVE A CHOICE!
(All Scripture from: NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)
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