From the Editor: Why the Advocate Matters

By Jim Nelson

“Hope isn’t believing that we can change things; hope is about believing that what we do matters.” Vaclav Havel, President, Czech Republic.As the editor of the Wesleyan Christian Advocate, I have a lot of hope because I know that what we do here matters. We have the privilege of writing the first draft of history. It is not just a cliché; it is the truth. Future generations of historians will view the stories we write as primary source documents. Those historians will cull through our archives in an effort to understand what happened, and to help their readers understand why the church is what it is in their day.

Without knowing what they are, we are preserving the signs and omens that future generations will focus on as the beginnings of the watershed events of their past. What those signs are can only be fully known, and fully appreciated, in hindsight. If we do not write them down, how will our descendents know what happened and why?As journalists, we do not have the proverbial seat at the table. We are not the creators of history. But we are allowed to stand directly behind the table: observing, documenting, and in some cases analyzing what happens. We record history.Often I wonder what those future historians will glean from what we write today. Is the church in a downward cycle of decay, soon to become extinct? Will they be trying to figure out what went wrong? Or, are we perhaps on the cusp of a new beginning, and are the signs we are writing about the beginnings of the next great revival? Which story that seems somewhat innocuous to us now will they see as the defining moment when everything began to change?

We know today that the division of Israel, which ultimately led to its demise began long before Solomon died, before Absalom revolted against his father David, before even David slept with Bathsheba and then had his friend Uriah killed to cover it up. It began in 2Samuel 11:1, “at the time when kings go off to war,” and David stayed home. An innocuous incident that sparked a chain reaction ending in catastrophe for the people of Israel. What are we doing or not doing today that will result in the survival, revival or demise of the church tomorrow?
My hope is that there are among the readers of the Advocate astute individuals who can spot trends, and take action to reverse negative ones and enhance positive ones. We all need to stay informed; to pay attention to what is happening, and to be able to react to a changing environment before it leaves us behind.The Good News is God will help us, but God will not do all the work for us. God gives us talents, but we have to use them. God opens doors, but we must walk through them. The Spirit will put ideas in our heads, but we must implement them.

The other hope I have is that God works through the Advocate, helping you and others to see what is happening, to discern trends, and to have the knowledge necessary to keep the church moving forward along the narrow path, toward the narrow gate.What we do matters. Help us keep the Advocate alive, and serving God. Continue to subscribe and encourage all of your friends and family to do the same. The person you get to subscribe may be the one that spots the trend that helps us all.