Acts - Week 12 / Tuesday

Reading for today: Acts 23: 12-22

An advocate is someone who supports or promotes the interests of another. An advocate is someone who will cover your back - often without you even knowing it. Advocates are gifts from God. Paul's nephew is a great example of what advocates can do for us.

In Leonard Sweet's book "11" he describes four reasons why back-coverers are so important to us:

1. First, you and I are going to get it in the back. Somewhere, someway, someone is going to not-so-kindly place a metaphorical dagger in your back. This is especially true if you are already vulnerable. There is an Arabic proverb that says, "A falling camel attracts many knives."

2. Sometimes advocates fight alongside you on the front lines, but mostly they cover you with prayer from a distance. Paul's nephew fought alongside of him - he told Paul of the plot. But many times your advocates will help you without your knowledge.

Sweet's last two reasons have more to do with how we can cover the back of others:

3. We can be advocates for people we don't even know. A good recent example of this is how the people at CLF helped out with the "Stuff the Bus" campaign last week. By providing school supplies for kids who might not otherwise be able to have those things, we were able to cover these student's backs - students we most likely will never meet personally. There are many ways we can cover people's backs we've never met. What are some things you can think of doing?

4. Finally, we can be advocates for generations that come after us and before us. This one might take a little thought to comprehend. Let me illustrate this with a story from Sweet's book. Former French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau and Claude Monet, founder of French impressionism, were friends. They each lived to be old men, and each died within a few years of one another, Monet first. When Clemenceau saw a black shroud draping Monet's coffin, a sudden burst of fury overtook him. Rushing to a nearby window, he ripped a colorful curtain from its rod, cast the balck shroud to the ground, and covered the coffin with the drape. For his friend to be buried in a color he had banned from his palette was the ultimate insult.

Here are two questions for the day: Who are my back-coverers? and then Whose back am I covering?

Tomorrow: Moving up the food chain