Getting the Cross Over

If you listen to music with more than a superficial interest, you’ll know that some singers’ careers can take a turn, whether temporary or permanent, that is referred to as ‘cross-over’, for example, when a folk singer records something in a classical genre.

There’s a similar cross-over from my work to my faith, and vice versa.  During the course of my work as a courier, there have been times when the opportunity arises for me to speak as a Christian.  I should explain that, for many years now, I have consistently worn a small wooden cross around my neck.  It is usually overlooked, perhaps thought of as a mere eccentricity, or unmentioned because of familiarity or for lack of something appropriate to say.  Occasionally, however, it attracts a passing comment like ‘that's a nice cross’, or a direct question, ‘are you a Christian, then?’  Sometimes it can introduce confusion, when someone assumes that I wear it because I'm a priest … which I’m not.  Explanations can vary from complex, to embarrassing, to dismissive, according to the personalities involved. 

A few weeks ago I made a collection from a building site and, as the foreman searched for the paperwork, he apologised for the delay, explaining that he’d forgotten his glasses that morning.  With scarcely a thought, I replied that I’d done the same thing in church the other day when I was due to read the lesson.  It was just an exchange of everyday experiences, but I wondered whether later he might have thought once more of ‘a delivery driver who read lessons in church.’

I recently heard in a sermon the report of a comment from the New Wine gathering that, when such a chance happens, we have on average only three seconds in which to get our word across.  It’s imperative, then, that we have our ‘script’ ready.  It needn’t be anything profound ... indeed, it needs not to be deep and complex, or the chance will have gone!  We should pray to spot opportunities like this when they arise.  Apart from the plan to have something pithy that’s ‘ever-ready’, it’s also important to remember Jesus’ words not to worry about what to say ... but to say what we are given in that moment, “for it is not you speaking but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:11). 

As I write about this, I’m reminded of an old priest who once told me about a builder who was doing some work in his cottage.  It seems that almost every sentence the man spoke involved the breaking of the third Commandment.  “I prayed about this, and was shown a way to address the matter,” the priest told me.  “I spotted the wedding ring on his finger, and I asked his wife’s name, and whether he loved her.  When he said she was Susan, and added that of course he loved her, I suggested that, should something go wrong with my work, I might regularly exclaim, ‘Oh Susan!’ and I asked how he would feel about this.  He thought a moment, and then said that it was daft, and if it went on he’d probably get very annoyed.  I then explained that I loved my Saviour, and that I found it offensive to hear His Name abused in this way.  I received an apology,” said the priest, “and his language moderated from that moment on!”

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." – Edmund Burke (1729-1797)