Ideals in the Market Place

Whenever I read the Old Testament prophets, I imagine them standing in the midst of the local markets crying out their message from God. I imagine enthusiastic listeners and equally enthusiastic hecklers, observed by hovering soldiers, waiting to step in. “They sell the innocent for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals” declares Amos, about those who sit in authority in his community.
The prophets variously challenge our attitude to justice, how we do business, how we care for the poor, the hungry, the widowed, the orphaned and the strangers in our midst. Our faith and worship are integral to who we are and the prophets ask questions of our integrity if we sing praises, fast and tithe, while someone sits hungry outside our door.
I can imagine it would be irritating when you just wanted to pop down to the market for a litre of milk and a quick haggle, when suddenly a crowd gathers to hear Hosea challenge the Coles and Woolworths duopoly.
What does the market place look like now? People say that the markets in many parts of the Middle East, Africa and Asia have changed little in the last two thousand years. That is not so true for us.
The market place looks more like blogs, social networking sites and chat rooms. The prophet doesn’t stride into Peel Street, but might offer a challenge on the Leader website, or in the Comments Section when an article is posted.
A disciple might post an article on Facebook to invite responses and conversation, or post an image like #bringbackourgirls which is currently trending on Twitter.
The Greek word for “market place” is agora, which is where agoraphobia comes from, “the fear of public, or open spaces”. How easy and understandable it is for the church to develop agoraphobia, this fear of being in the market. What if people reject our message, or reject us? Will we appear hypocritical? Will we lose friends? What happens when we get something wrong?
Is that our deepest fear? When the weakest are airbrushed from our society, when being white is presented as being “normal”, when the gospel is co-opted to justify injustice, will we keep silent? Let’s engage with our community, let’s talk faith and talk community – let people hear and see and touch the gospel, in all our frailty and all our thankfulness.
Together, we might just discover grace.