The Sex Trade, the Superbowl, and the Symptoms of Sin

        It exploded all over the media in a cloud of indignation. Who would have thought that the Superbowl-- a fundamentally fun family fling, has recently been labeled the largest location for licentiousness. The sex trade booms during the Superbowl, "as hundreds of thousands of people (mainly men) flock to the New York City metro area for the week’s festivities" (Dimon). People caught wind of this horror this past week and plastered their thoughts and statistics all over Facebook, twitter, and various blogging sites in order to raise awareness in hopes of ending this atrocity.

         Sadly, the Superbowl will continue to happen, men will still swarm to prostitutes, women will still be trafficked, and though some justice may be served, sex trafficking will not come to an end because most of the people posting about the scandal merely posted about the scandal and did nothing more. They believe that by simply exposing the scandal they have done their part to bring the injustice to an end.
         The truth of the matter is that sex trafficking will not stop because people expose it, because laws are regulated, and because sting raids are carried out. Sex trafficking is a result of lust and lust is a result of the fall and our disobedience. Until sin is remitted in the world, sexual sin will always be a problem. 

       As a lover and student of theology, I tend to see life in a slightly different light than others. I believe that nothing that happens in the world is an isolated event, for it is all a result of God's plan and because He is the Creator, everything can be related back to Him and we can learn more about Him and about ourselves through the world.
      The Superbowl sex trafficking scandal is a picture of our own lives. When our awareness of our issues are heightened, we try to get rid of the problem by lopping off the results of the sin. We throw away our computers to help us stop looking at pornography, quit our jobs because our co-workers contribute to our problem of foul language, and we don't go to stores because they cause us to envy intensely.

        Diagnosis doesn't equal a cure, Awareness does not mean cessation, and just because we change our circumstances does not mean that we've dealt with sin. Yes, maybe we have reached small victories in the areas we struggle with, but has the real problem really been dealt with? Has the lustful heart been made pure? Has the proud heart been humbled? Has the envious heart been satisfied? Perhaps we need to stop merely pruning the branches of sin and pull it out wholly by the root.

       Jesus illustrates this as cleaning the outside of a cup but leaving the inside filthy still. What good does that accomplish? Instead, Christ explains that the proper way to deal with sins is to, "First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean." (Matthew 23: 25-26) The remedy for our sins is the gospel and the gospel works from the inside out, not only changing our actions but our hearts.
       Don't resort to merely exposing sin; turn your eyes to Jesus Christ to extinguish sin and deal not only with the symptoms, but the actual illness as well.

Cited:
Dimon, Laura. "You'll Never See This Side of the Superbowl." Web log post. PoicyMic. Mic Network, 27 Jan. 2014. Web. <http://www.policymic.com/articles/79235/you-ll-never-see-this-side-of-the-super-bowl-on-tvx>.