Do you remember that very peculiar section in Luke’s Gospel, just after Jesus began his public ministry? Luke 4 reports that Jesus preached from the scroll of Isaiah, proclaiming that the Spirit of God was upon him to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoner, recovery of sight for the blind, and to set the oppressed free. 

Jesus’ hometown audience, in Nazareth, was so astonished by what he said that the evangelist said that all eyes were fixed on him. This wasn’t a new message. It was a message God spoke through the prophets for millennia. 

However, within a few verses, the people of Nazareth’s astonishment turned to crazed anger as they drove Jesus out of town to murder him. 

But, when you stop and think about it, are we surprised by the crowd’s response? Do many today not respond to Jesus’ radical ministry vision statement with crazed anger? How many church expressions ignore Jesus’ message and ministry, especially regarding race, ethnicity, nationality, immigration status, and sexuality? But what about human trafficking? 

“As a Christian leader, minister, and federal task force administrator, I am grieved by the missteps of some of my fellow Christians with savior complexes. I believe strongly that we must be salt and light in the world. But it is essential that we evaluate what this looks like when we are engaging in the fight against modern slavery,” said Kimberly Yim on the CBF Podcast Conversation. 

Yim, Shayne Moore, and Sandra Morgan are co-authors of Ending Human Trafficking: A Handbook of Strategies for the Church Today. We sat down with Kimberly to discuss their vision for the book and its practicality for churching wanting to live out Jesus’ calling. 

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Andy Hale is the creator and host of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Hale is the Associate Executive Coordinator of CBF North Carolina. He’s also served as CBF’s Church Start Specialist, the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton, and the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge. Follow on Twitter @haleandy.