subject: The New Slave Master [print this page] Does Slavery Still Exist? Does Slavery Still Exist?
Slavery by definition is when a person or group of people are held against their will and owned by another person. The most recognized form of slavery is when Africans were transported to the Americas. Although slavery as we know it has been abolished, there are more than 27 million slaves that are owned by another person as you read this. Slaves today aren't the slaves of my ancestors and today's slave masters are much more brutal than those of yester-year. Today's slavery, by the definition above, operates in an entirely different fashion.
Human trafficking is the fastest growing and most disturbing form of slavery. This type of slavery involves selling women and children into the sex trade industry. This criminal behavior has become the largest slave trade known in history. Human trafficking is estimated to surpass drug trafficking in criminal activity.
Who's the Master?
If you are reading this, then chances are you are not being held against your will and you are not a slave by definition. I submit to you, however, that in some form we still have a slave master. We are still owned. To some reading this, you will automatically object to such a claim and others will readily admit that they are a slave. I can honestly admit that I have more than one slave master. The difference between my slave masters and the slave masters of my ancestors is that I am not being held against my will. In fact, I willfully submitted to them my power and authority. That makes me a loyal and noteworthy slave.
The Biblical Perspective
The title of this reading isThe New Slave Master. Slavery itself is not a new concept. It is the slave master that has transformed and evolved into new forces that we find ourselves unconsciously submitted to. In the New International Version of the Bible, we find in 2 Peter 2:19 in the latter part of the verse, "a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him". In essence, my slave master isn't even another person. I am a slave to my own addictions. I am a slave at times to my anger. I am a slave even to my past transgressions that I allow to haunt me and convince me of what I can not do or what I can not over come. My addictions, my occasional anger, and my past serve as my slave masters because I willfully allow them to master me.
In order to free myself from my slave masters, I must first acknowledge the presence of them. I can't go on pretending they are not there. The power to be free doesn't lie in my slave masters but lies in the depths of my spirit. Most of us created our own slave masters and their rule over us has left residual consequences in some cases. Will we remain captive or unleash the courage to be free?
