Martyrs for a Cause

A few weeks ago, my hairdresser asked me what it was I hoped to achieve during my term as Moderator. It wasn’t the polite chit-chat often associated with the pruning (and preserving) of one’s hair, but a sincere question.

So, for a moment, I was stuck, as I tried to think about how to express my sense of hope and expectation, but also to use language that makes sense in a hairdresser’s chair, or at the stockyards, or at a party with a mix of friends. Some of the church’s stuff can seem obtuse, or even arcane, to many people (some of whom are active in the church’s life!), so to be able to explain being a Moderator, or a Minister, or a disciple, or a follower of Jesus, needs more than a flow chart and a Bible verses app on your phone.

Do my hopes for the mission and ministry of the Uniting Church have any echo in the lives of our community?

I believe they do, so when someone asks me what they are, or what they look like, it needs to make sense – to them.

How will I know if it makes sense?

The best way, in my experience, is forming a relationship first. So much of evangelism seems to be the “hit and run” model, where we have our spiel worked out, even spelt out in a tract, or app, of some kind and we run through it like some salvation flow chart.

What if we build a relationship, with no ulterior motive other than to be a friend? And what if our witness arises out of our care for each other, and not because God has some clipboard marking the new arrival?

The word “martyr” comes from the original word meaning “to bear witness”; it is our presence, and not simply our words which testify to the active presence of God in the world. If we care about someone, then we will know how to talk to them and understand what weight our words will have when we speak to them – over time.

I have regular haircuts; I don’t need to tell the whole Gospel in the time it takes to prune, primp and perm. I’ll be back in a few weeks and perhaps the conversation will pick up where it left off, and perhaps that will happen in a few haircuts’ time.

Our witness is in God’s hands – to both take the opportunity when it arises, and to trust that the Spirit is present to bless and correct.

Pentecost reminds us that the Spirit is on the move …  let’s trust her for our words and actions to make sense to everyone.