Centrefold Lounge

I get a lot of cold-calls on my telephone. Sometimes three or four in a single day. But never one like this before.

2:15pm Phone rings. I answer. "Hello, can I help you?"

A young woman on the other end says "Hello, I'm calling from Centrefold Lounge and we have a free membership for Relative Systems. Can I confirm, is this Relative Systems?"

"Yes it is" I say, but she'd kinda mumbled her company name and all I really heard was "lounge", so I asked "What did you say your company name is again?"

"Centrefold Lounge", she said, clearly this time.

"Centrefold Lounge. So why would you be giving a free membership to my company? I mean, I have no idea what benefit it would be. Sell me on it." I say. My brain is stuck on the word "lounge". I'm thinking maybe it's like a cafe where business owners can meet and talk business. But something in the back of my brain is ticking over and saying something's not quite right here. So even as I ask her what the lounge is about and why I'd care about this free membership, I'm firing up Google and typing in "Centrefold Lounge".

First match is the company in question. Click. Oh. I'm slow, but I get there. "Centrefold". I should have guessed. Staring at me from the website is a woman in immodest attire, to put it gently.

This has only taken a few seconds, and the girl on the other end hasn't begun to answer my question yet. And so I jump in.

"Ah, I've found the website." <slight pause as I thought about how to say this to her> "You're obviously a woman. I'm surprised you're supporting something that encourages men to treat women like sex objects." There was no hardness in my voice. I spoke it as a simple matter of fact. I didn't tell her she was doing the wrong thing, or that the company would go to hell, or that they're all sluts, or anything like that. I simply made that one statement, sincerely hoping to engage her conscience instead of triggering a hate reaction on her part.

It's amazing the power of a few words.

In a broken, crackling voice, she managed to reply "It's just a job." But it was hard for her to say it. I had touched a nerve. Clearly she recognised it was not a business worthy of her support.

"I understand that. But maybe you should think about getting a job supporting something worth supporting." Again, it was not said with any antagonism. I spoke a sincere and direct word to her heart, encouraging her to believe that she can and should make a difference by where she chooses to work. She hurriedly mumbled a few words and hung up.

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1) Meet people where they're at, but help them see where they could be. Are you painting a vision of hope for the sightless around you, or are you confirming what everyone else around them is telling them, that they may as well just run with the crowd? If I'd responded angrily to this woman or simply hung up, I would never have planted that seed in her mind that she can make a difference. How can you be less of a reactionary and more of a proactive seed-planter in your daily life?

2) Is your job "just a job", or are you recognising that your tiny bit of power can be exercised to make a difference? If we all do our tiny bit, the world will be a better place.

3) Guys, when you're invited to lust, how deep is your passion for purity? Join The Fight. Breakaway from the crowd. Find freedom in Christ. For more information on ways to say yes to purity and no to lust, drop me a line, or to suggest good resources I can recommend to others, add a comment or drop me a line. This world will forever invite you to sin. If your gameplan relies solely on avoiding temptation, you will fail. Learn how to face temptation and win. Others have done it. So can you.