Rudder in the Room

Guest: Jaco Booyens

To find out more about Jaco Booyens and his efforts to battle against child sexual exploitation, check out his ministry website or personal website.

Raised by a single mom, Jaco found some “father figures” in sport - his coaches taught him some valuable life lessons…how to shave, mow lawns, etc.

Men, we all know that child sexual exploitation is awful, but there is a question that we need to ask ourselves - “Am I part of the problem?”

Guys need to have accountability - men who will hold you accountable to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Men, you may not be exploiting children, but you might be “feeding the beast.” If you’re looking at pornography, at any level, you are engaging in the exploitation of people

Sex trafficking is a symptom of a larger problem - the problem of self-centeredness.

Men were made to be “hunters” - what are we hunting for? Ideally he is supposed to hunt evil, injustice, find the outcast and underprivileged. Today, we see young men holding up a cell phone and recording an injustice - PUT THE PHONE DOWN and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

How do we move from being the guy who records evil to become the guy who protects others from evil?

Watchman/Warrior Project

Start with you - get real with yourself. Where have I contributed to either evil progressing in the world or doing battle against the darkness?!

Jaco - I promise the answer won’t come from your peers! You learn from the older, wiser men. Invest in your own life and careers - stop spending all your time focused on the lives of “famous” people who aren’t giving you a good example anyway!

Jaco - get rid of your “coping mechanisms” - the things that you run to when life is difficult that really don’t help you address the situation, just cover it up and prolong the pain.

Jaco - pay attention to this statistic - 88% of the guys in prison come from a fatherless environment. They don’t have a role model for a different lifestyle. We need men who are modeling the truth about what a true man looks like.

IF you want to be that man who steps up and steps out to be different, don’t expect that others will cheer you on and support you - if it’s the right thing to do, you need to do it regardless of the cost and the isolation!

IF you see the “Goliath” and know that he must be defeated, you’ll most likely be fighting alone. If you’re in the “crowd” and lots of people are doing what you’re doing, you’re most likely going the wrong way! The only thing that grows without work is weeds - in the garden and in your life.

Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg, Musk - all good examples of succeeding against all odds - great for success in business, but not good examples for being successful in other aspects of life.

Jaco - walk the road that is lonely, it will be worth it. The crowd will come and support AFTER you cut off the head of the giant, not before.

Jaco - be the “rudder in the room.” It’s not a call out, it’s a call UP. Men, step UP to be the men that God has created and called you to be. Amen.