Law – something which CARE spend a lot of time trying to advocate for change in….
I recently heard it said that we can change the law but it will make not a button of difference if man’s heart remains unchanged. I found this deeply challenging, in all honesty I’m still mulling it over. After all, I work for CARE, an advocacy organisation which has sought to be a voice for truth in the public square for nearly 40 years. So, does that mean our work is ‘null and void’? What’s the point in advocacy if changing the law doesn’t really fix the problem of our hearts?
I would like to spend just a short time thinking with you about the law, the heart and advocacy. Hopefully you’ll stick around to the end!
Scripture is the best place to start! The Old Testament is crammed full of law, God gave the law to Moses on Mount Carmel. The Israelites had fled, under the sovereign and mighty hand of God, from Egypt (slavery) into freedom. But they needed governance, and so God gave Moses the Torah or the law of God, which is recorded in the first five books of the Bible. His holy, perfect standard for living for a cold, disobedient, selfish, and unholy people. Did God’s law stop the people from sinning? Certainly not! The law set a standard for righteousness, but it did not change their hearts.
The Bible says much about the heart, OUR hearts. Two examples spring to mind as I write;
Firstly, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17: 9)
The heart is deceitful above all else. I cannot trust my heart. And you cannot trust yours. Our hearts are desperately wicked; prone to deceit, envy and pride.
And secondly, Luke 6:45, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks…what’s inside must and will come out. If you listen to someone for long enough you will discover what’s going on in their inner person, whether they explicitly say it or not. And whatever our decisions and actions will also show the condition of our heart.
The law reveals our hearts, it reveals whether we are good or bad. And sadly, in Northern Ireland, our heart condition is bad but so are some of our laws.
So, what’s the point in advocacy? Well, often during my time of working for CARE I’ve heard and used the following line, “law shapes culture”. And it’s true, our laws tell us in society what is considered to be acceptable, permissible or not. It gives permission for people to act in a certain way. And over time, what was once an offence to the majority becomes accepted or at least tolerated by the majority. The law has then shaped our culture. So, advocating for better laws matters. But it’s only a starting point. Because ultimately a heart change is required. Then people will make good decisions, not just because the law tells them to, but because they have encountered a righteous God who through the sacrifice and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, makes them righteous and they’ll produce good.
That’s my aching desire for Northern Ireland, that many would join me in praying again, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10) // Hannah Arnold (NI Development Officer)
