Why Good Christian Men Go Into Brothels (an interview with Matt Parker, CEO of The Exodus Road)

I met two of the men who go into brothels on a regular basis.*

These two men go in and sit down and order a drink and they see girl after girl after girl up on stage. They are looking for minors and girls with signs of abuse. Sometimes the girls are naked. Sometimes they have a bikini on. I asked Matt, one of the men, why some girls have bikini’s on and some don’t. “The girls have to pay the bartender to take their bikini’s off.”

Oh.

The topless girls might be chosen quicker, meeting their quotas quicker. 100 men a month. The more men, the more money, the more quickly you can pay off your debt bondage. It’s all so complicated and layered, this business of human trafficking.

So these two men go into dark, dirty places and see dark and dirty things. Some of which I won’t tell you. What I will tell you is this: these men, these good Christian men, will be the first to say that they are not good.

They are not above any other man. They are not more righteous or holy. They are just men, who go into brothels by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit in order to help set captives free.

Humble is a word that comes to mind.

Willing. Able. Knowing they are flesh and blood men, full of normal humanity, willing to go in and see beyond the skin to the girl who might be trafficked and needing rescued.

I have the highest esteem and respect for these men who keep on despite the narrative that men aren’t able to have self-control, that they are owned by lust.

They’ve been bruised by this work, by people who can’t understand why good Christian men would go into brothels.

Well I’ll tell you why good Christian men go into brothels, and I’ll tell you using Matt’s words:

“The Kingdom of God is supposed to be ushered into this world by Christians. And freedom is a big part of that for these girls, these victims. And if those who follow Christ, who love Christ, aren’t the ones who can go into battle and charge the gates of hell in the name of Christ, I don’t really know who else should be doing that…for us to have the courage to go into a dark place and perhaps see some things we’d rather not see, but we do that on behalf of a child. I think that’s what Christ actually did. He came from heaven to the brothel of earth to save a prostitute or a victim like me, and He offered me a new hope, He offered me freedom, and a new life. In my mind, this is the gospel.”

I mean, AMEN.

THIS is the gospel. It’s going to dark places and being light, and offering hope and a new life. Yes, it’s awful. But it’s also really, really good work.

Love, SM

*The Exodus Road has protocols in place, training, and accountability that is top-notch for all those who go into brothels to help find and rescue slaves.