GOD STILL WANTS HIM – By Jeffery Tyler
During our visits to the Red Light District in Pat Pong, our missions team had unforgettable
experiences. These experiences prove that all men who visit the bars in these districts are not the
same. Many of these men come with the same motives but not all of them are the same. These
men have different backgrounds, ethnicities, and occupations; however, our experiences as a
team have proven that they have one thing in common- they are lost and broken on the inside.
What drives a man to leave his wife and children at home while he indulges in degrading sexual
behavior with other lost and broken women who are often far younger than he is? What drives
a single man to hop from club to club and bar to bar night after night engaging women with no
regard for her well-being or her self esteem? Does he have any regard for himself or those who loves him?
A young lady from our missions team encountered a man in one of the bars and shared the love
of Christ with him. After telling this man that Jesus loves him and would forgive him of his sins,
he replied, “I don’t believe that. God doesn’t love me” and walked away. In another story, one
of our team members encountered a man in a bar during outreach whom she was sharing the
love of God with. He was an older, handsome man who was wealthy and divorced with children.
During their conversation, it was discovered that this man was not buying women for sexual
purposes; he was buying them for their time only and nothing more. This surprised many of us
due to the fact that this is not common for men who spend money on women in the Red Light
District. For the sake of protecting this person’s identity, I will call him Valor. Valor began
to pour his heart out saying that he was hurt due to losing his marriage and losing one of his
children who died. He shared that “Money gets me in trouble.” This man had a difficult time
believing and accepting the fact that God loved him and could forgive him. Our team members
continued to share the love of God with him.
It is very easy to see men who are involved in the degradation of women as the enemy. It is
easy to see them as perverted, dirty, evil men who are guilty of hurting and degrading hundreds
of women, children, and their families for their own selfish pleasures. Is it true that so many
men are guilty of these acts? Yes it is. What happens when we begin to see past what we see?
In other words what happens when we begin to not only focus on reaching the women that are
trapped in darkness but also reaching and helping the men who are trapped as well? Men who
are trapped in brokenness, insecurity, hurt, regret, rejection, and anger and are now allowing
these poisons to drive them into predator-like behavior. Are these men being selfish? Yes they
are but GOD STILL WANTS THEM. Are they guilty? Yes they are but GOD STILL WANTS
THEM. Just like those men who visit the bars, we have all been guilty of doing things that hurt
God but He still chose to love and forgive us so should we see anyone else as being less worthy
of his grace because our sins are different? No matter what the act is, the Bible doesn’t tell us
that there are big sins or little sins. Sin is sin and God loved us while we were still trapped in
our mess. Romans 5:6-8, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for
the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us.” There is power in learning to see others the way God sees them
despite what they have done because it teaches us to love the way God loves. So the next time
you are tempted to carry bitterness toward any man for something that he is guilty of, remember
that GOD STILL WANTS HIM.
