Glass House and Living Temples

Have you ever been enraged by an injustice? Whether something we see happening on a global scale or a wrongdoing that has personal affects, it is natural for humans to seek justice. We have been made in the image of a holy and righteous God. It is His sense of justice that burns in us, though perhaps twisted by the Fall.

Earlier this week, I saw a documentary entitled "Nefarious: Merchant of Souls". It tracked the global connections between human trafficking, sexual slavery, and prostitution. The film infuriated me as it revealed the story of exploitation and abuse going on throughout the world.

I seethed with rage at these men who victimized young women and girls. I hated the traffickers, clients, and pimps who made injustice a reality. I hated myself. I hated every time I engaged in injustice, every time I was complicit with exploitation through action and through silence.

I'm reminded of the saying, "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." It's difficult to be sincere about the flaws and brokenness of others when you are suffering with flaws and brokenness. Jesus said it this way, "Let anyone of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

The beautiful part of this story about an adulteress being condemned by these Jewish men: that He who was without sin did not see fit to stone her. At Jesus' words, the men confronting Him saw their own guilt and flaws in this women. They dropped their stones in response to recognizing their shared broken humanity with the women.

But what about the sinless Son of God? He tells her, "Go now and leave your life of sin." He sees what she could be, what she was made to be. A reflection of God's own image, a carrier of the divine spark, a co-heir of the Kingdom of God.

In Matthew 12, someone mentions Jesus' brothers and mother and He responds by saying, "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Jesus saw the potential in the adulterous woman to repent of her lifestyle, follow Him, and be born again into God's own family. Paul called Christ the "first born of many brethren"; should we then be filled with condemnation when anyone at any moment has the potential to choose Christ and become our brother or sister?

In his letters to the Corinthians, Paul refers to the body of believers as a living temple of God. As human beings turn away from the world, the Spirit of God dwells within us. We are transformed from flawed and broken creatures to be what God made us to be, reflections of His own divine image. We are remodeled from glass houses to living temples.

That was the great part about the Nefarious documentary. The end of the film described stories of people being restored from the depravity of sexual slavery by the life in Jesus Christ. Not only the prostitutes, but the clients and traffickers experienced resurrection as well.

We should fight against injustice in its many forms. We are called to be a voice for the weak and vulnerable. We ought to pray for the world to conform to God's perfect will. We need to work towards restoration and resurrection for the victims. And the perpetrators.