Advocacy
Roger Forster
Roger reflects on the concept of advocacy and how it fits in to theological thought. By focusing on advocacy in the life of Jesus, Roger draws out insightful implications for our lives today.
I wonder how many of us would be able to think back to over ten years ago and remember a message on advocacy being preached in our local church. The word has only really had currency in Christian thought in recent years, although those of us involved in mission have been more familiar with the concept and see it as a fundamental part of Christian work.
But just because the terminology is new, it does not mean that the concept is. In fact, when new words emerge in the Christian arena, it often means that the church is coming back to its original calling, rediscovering its roots, and creatively searching for new ways to put the old truths over. Over the years, we have invented such terms as ‘church history’, ‘the trinity’ and ‘free will’ - they are not Biblical, but they are nonetheless expressing real truths. Of course, not every word will reveal something which is of the Spirit of God; it could be that certain ideas are theological red herrings. Thus we need to ask ourselves just how far the concept of advocacy is Biblical, and how it fits with other areas of theological thought.
The word itself means ‘to be called alongside someone, to seek something on their behalf’. Although it is not common in the Bible, 'advocate’ does appear in the New Testament in two important ways, and that is where we should begin our enquiry as to what true, Biblical advocacy looks like.
‘Advocate’ is applied both to Jesus (1 John 2:1) and the Holy Spirit (John 14:16). The Greek word is parakletos, in both places. As Christians following the example of Christ, whatever it was that Jesus did as an advocate should be the basis for our model. Similarly, if the Holy Spirit is the one who guides us and enables us to speak out our testimony (John 16:13, Matthew 10:19-20), then he - the other advocate - should be the empowerment for our advocacy.
It will always be a temptation for us to get stuck into politics, areas of social justice or various structures of society thinking, where we can plead our cause without too much help from God. But our efforts will not avail much without the model of Jesus and without the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need to be led of the Spirit in our advocacy, toward the example of Christ, not relying on our knowledge of political engagement for our method or the fact that we have done these things many times before.
I was struck, when meditating on this, by the example of Esther. As an advocate, she did a tremendous job in securing freedom from oppression for the people of God, but she did it in a very strategic way. She first called her people to a fast, then she threw two banquets to bring the King and Haman together, pleading her cause on the second occasion. While the Jews fast, she puts on two feasts! That was a God-given strategy, inspired after her participation with the Jews in their fasting. Her model came from divine inspiration and not simply from human wisdom or extensive knowledge of the issues.
1 John 2 brings Jesus before us as the Advocate: we see at least five things in Him, our model:
- Jesus speaks for us because we cannot speak for ourselves. He is our advocate before the Father because while we have sinned, He is righteous. That is what we are doing when we are advocates – we are speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves. Proverbs 31:8-9 encourages us to ‘open our mouths for the mute, for the rights of the unfortunate…and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.’
- Jesus is also the ‘propitiation for our sins’ and, as our representative, He joined Himself to the human race and was thereby able to identify with our position (Hebrews 4:15). Advocacy is not a patronage from those of us who have power or privilege, seeking with our earthly advantage to empower the powerless. The closer we are identified with those on behalf of whom we want to speak, the more we will get a hearing and be modelling on our Lord. The danger in advocacy is always that we come across as patronising. Of course, it is utterly impossible to become one with those for whom we are speaking in everything (our life style, our concerns and so on), but it is possible to conduct our lives with integrity, in the way that we use our money and spend our time. Jesus did just that. He couldn’t identify with everybody all the time, but he did have a lifestyle which showed that he was vulnerable. He never had a lot of money, he didn’t own a home and he didn’t revel in the higher echelons of society. Thus, he was able to enter empathetically into people’s lives wherever the Spirit moved Him.
- Jesus ‘is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them’ (Hebrews 7:25). The work of our Lord Jesus on our behalf is a continuous one. If he gave up, it would demonstrate that he was not fully committed to our cause. And even after He has seemingly won his victory, he continues, because he is establishing that victory. Once we have been saved, we need the continuous work of our Lord Jesus to live in the good of that salvation and to continue to grow into the fullness of Christ. There is something that will be ongoing and continuous in our advocacy - not just winning our case, but seeing it established and worked out - if we mean business in taking up this aspect of Christian mission.
- When Jesus, as an Advocate (or Priest here), comes before the Father he has something to offer (Hebrews 8:3) - something that we can’t. He is the perfect propitiation; he is meeting the Father with humility, truth, integrity, purity and innocence. When we come to do our advocacy work, following our model, we will meet hostility; the powers to which we appeal will be in support of the things that we feel need to be changed. So, if we are to have something to offer; we have to meet them with the opposite spirit. We don’t meet them with aggression, superiority or vengeance, but with humility, as Christlike advocates.
- In Zechariah 3:1, when the Lord cleans up the High Priest, Joshua, Satan is standing there to resist and accuse. We have an ‘Advocate for the prosecution’ coming against the advocacy that we are standing for. That is the power of the enemy, and it is him that we are really, ultimately and spiritually up against. We are not up against the legislators; we are not up against the corrupt governments; we are up against spiritual powers. When we make our case, we are not just simply trying to prove our point and win an argument with human beings; we are declaring the defeat of the Enemy that Jesus Christ won for us on the cross. When we stand and make our case, we need to be aware that the Accuser of the brethren is there and it is His spiritual resistance that we confront. Advocacy is not simply a human political activity. It is a matter of meeting the powers that lie behind the authority structures of this world. It is a spiritual exercise and we cannot do it as prayerless people. Let’s not try to be activists without God’s Holy Spirit Advocate empowering us.
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Roger Forster, 27/09/2006 |
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