HOW JESUS UNLOCKS JUSTICE

An interview with Ruth Robb, founder of Azalea- a charity that fights sexual exploitation.

Two days ago I had a conversation with Ruth Robb, the founder of Azalea, a charity which is fighting to end commercial sexual exploitation, empowering and freeing vulnerable women and men in Luton through the gospel. As Ella laid out in her ‘World beyond Coronavirus’ Zoom, horrifying statistics reveal the prominence of slavery in our society today, as commercial sexual exploitation, human trafficking and other forms of the objectification of human life generate $150bn each year. In all honestly, I was expecting my conversation with Ruth to dig into similar surface statistics and stories. However, I was instead taught a deeper, broader lesson derived from the insight and wisdom of someone who has devoted their life to ending commercial sexual exploitation. It went something like this:

‘Our pursuit of Social Justice needs to be rooted in three fundamental truths of Christian faith- Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.’

Jesus is the Way

There have been countless psychological studies revealing how prejudice is a learnt behaviour, as we grow up absorbing and reproducing the behaviour demonstrated by those around us (Bandura, 1977; McLeod, 2011). This is not an accusation of conscious discrimination, nor do I intend to single anyone out. Learnt prejudice exists within everyone, it is an inevitable consequence of living in an unjust, broken world. The relevance of this fact is crucial as we pursue the biblical call to justice. These preconceptions and bias’, if left untouched, will lead us down a road where we damage those we are trying to help, unconsciously acting out of a place of learnt ‘lies’, however good our heart and intentions may be. Ruth sums it up quite well: “assumptions make an ass out of you and me”. Ruth shared her grapple with this and suggested some stepping stones out of this trap:

1. It starts with prayer Our first step needs to be prayer. Simply put, it is the mechanism through which we deconstruct these learnt prejudices. By spending more time with God, dwelling and meditating on his character, we learn two things- who He is and who we are. This journey of stepping into our identity as children of God lightens the gravity of those learnt prejudices, now exposed under the light of Gods truth. This provides an opportunity to reset, letting worldly things wash away, as we present ourselves as empty vessels, to be filled with the love of God, what He says about our neighbours and our world. 2. Ask Questions Often we can get excited and charge in with an independently developed, fully fleshed out game plan, but it is so vital to seek Gods will and the perspectives of those who are affected by the injustice we are fighting against. So, asking an open question to both parties such as: ‘how can I serve you?’, invites a necessary collaboration, as we push

beyond our individual preconceptions on an issue of injustice. Azalea started with that very question, which led it to set multiple initiatives: Encompass, Flint, LASE (Luton against sexual exploitation) and FACES (Faith against exploitation- sexual). Through asking questions and getting educated, Ruth realised that modern slavery is not a single justice issue, and instead requires a multi-dimensional approach. Encompass acts as the ‘A+E’, attempting to restore the day to day deficit of hope that exists within vulnerable women in Luton, holding drop-in sessions to offer new clothes and hot food, loving conversation and guidance on exiting the industry, all under the banner ‘We are Home’. Flint digs into the root of the injustice by addressing the demand in commercial sexual exploitation, working with sex buyers to help them understand and escape addiction. Finally LASE and Faith engage the community, the secular world and churches to bring about broad change. This holistic approach all stems from that vital question: “How can I serve you?”.

Whatever social justice issue we may care about and want to change, we must first seek God in prayer to breakdown learnt prejudice, restoring the humility of Jesus as we mirror his servanthood. Then we must seek the experiences and perspectives of those we are trying to serve, as only by asking those questions will we start the journey of restoring justice in our world.

“The greatest injustice someone can ever face is never to be told the truth that God loves them”

Jesus is the Truth

Right at the start of our conversation, I asked Ruth what Azalea was. She answered, “Azalea is loud and proud about the gospel”. In all honesty, I was surprised by her answer. I was expecting a vision statement, a declaration of the mission to end commercial sexual exploitation. But I had made a fundamental mistake. I had separated evangelism and social justice. For too long, Christians, myself included, have held these two callings in separate hands, failing to see that they are inherently entwined. This statement: “The greatest injustice someone can ever face is never to be told the truth that God loves them”, lies at the root of Azaleas mission. Most women in the commercial sexual exploitation industry are following the footsteps of their mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers. Only the truth of the gospel holds the transformational power required to break these vulnerable women from the shackles of intergenerational oppression. Only Jesus can bring regeneration, renewal and transformation to such hopelessness. For it declares in 2 Corinthians 5:17: ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!’.

Ruth told me the story of a woman, let’s call her Sally, who saw chains of five generations of sexual exploitation broken. Azalea knew Sally for nine years, she would come in every Monday for some cake and clothes and leave unchanged, bouncing from one perpetrator and prison sentence to another. As Ruth put it, it seemed Sally was “utterly committed to destruction”. One day, however, this all changed. Suddenly Sally was different, believing that she belonged to a God who loved her as the treasure she is. The

chains of addiction were broken, accommodation was secured and Sally was welcomed into a church, a walking example of 2 Corinthians 5:17.

The truth of the gospel and the power of God are the only solutions to the overwhelming social justice issues we face.

Answering the injustice of the refugee crisis, the climate crisis and the Coronavirus pandemic require servants of the Lord living out, communicating and facilitating Gods love, power and truth to every soul in this world.

However, please do not see this as a call to inaction. This message is not a theoretical exploration of Jesus’ teachings, nor a collection of theological musings. Ruth stresses the necessity of action. From a place of distance, with our hearts often in the right place, we can passionately pray for Gods justice to be done, for victims of sexual exploitation to find a home in Jesus, and be set free by the truth of the gospel. But we must not leave it there, as Ruth put it “so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly use”. Using our hearts and our heads we must learn, get qualified, develop plans and decide strategy to ultimately live out the implications of our prayer- putting our faith into practice.

“We have women who sell themselves for a packet of fags. I felt I could handle that information, and I just couldn’t”

Jesus is the Life

Towards the end of the interview, I asked Ruth how she avoided feeling overwhelmed when seeking to end a powerful, billion-dollar industry that profits from the objectification and suffering of human life. She answered me frankly: “I thought I was robust. We have women that will sell themselves for a packet of fags. I felt I could handle that information, and I just couldn’t”.

It is so easy to feel overwhelmed with the task ahead. Injustice exists on our doorsteps, across our cities and in every corner of our broken world. Just as we rely on Gods truth to demolish the shackles of injustice, we must rest and derive our strength from that same source. “Spend time alone with God” Ruth states. Self-care, mindfulness and exercise are all important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the context of such burdening, heartbreaking injustice, but, ultimately its the time spent listening to his voice, staying in worship and meditating on his character that will give us the life we require to pursue social justice.

A Call to Action

If your heart has been stirred by this or sparked by issues of injustice, Ruth has a message for you.

So, if you can hear him calling, decide to be obedient and go, knowing that through him, you will restore justice.

1. Grasp the truth that God wants to use YOU Take yourself seriously. Know that you can be a world changer. Don’t allow yourself to be intimated by your age. There are some really stupid 40-50-year-olds out there, age is a measurement unrelated to calling or maturity.

2. Don’t get caught in the misunderstanding that we have to wait There are a dozen excuses that come to mind when I consider action, excuses that focus on my flaws and faults, painting a picture that suggests I leave my calling for later. But the reality is, we’re human, we’re imperfect, and if we create a standard that requires perfection, the day of action will never arrive. The wonderful truth is that Gods power is made perfect in our weakness, and since our calling will always supersede our capability, he promises us his supernatural strength for the task ahead. So, if you can hear him calling, decide to be obedient and go, knowing that through him, you will restore justice.

Final Words

Be reset in Jesus The Way, as you sacrifice learnt prejudices in his presence and offer yourself as a servant to him, in service of our neighbours.

Be empowered in Jesus The Truth, as you carry the reality of the gospel, realising its transformational potential to shake this world.

Be sustained in Jesus The Life, as you rest in him, as he fuels and provides for your every need.

Adam

Reference McLeod, S. (2011, January 1). Bobo Doll Experiment | Simply Psychology. Retrieved April 5, 2015, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. https://www.azalea.org.uk/about