Permission to speak #2

What does this look like?

After coming back from Uganda a year ago, I felt particularly liberated from some English cultural chains. I was talking to a guy I used to live with, but had never engaged in a conversation about faith. And it occurred to me to just ask him what he believed. For the next hour we were talking about deep perspectives I’d never heard from him before, I was sharing my story, others around were sharing too.. It was fascinating, it was fun, I felt like we got closer to realising reality, and at the end of it, my friend turned to me and said, ‘thank you for not pushing anything on me but listening.’ I deliberately started the conversation!

This is also why the Alpha course works. This is what The Guardian said about it: “What Alpha offers, and what is attracting thousands of people, is permission, rare in secular culture, to discuss the big questions - life and death and their meaning.” When you’re there, it is the easiest, most natural thing in the world to engage in discussion about Jesus. That’s what you’re all there for!

Finally, and for Christians this should be the clincher, this is what Jesus does in his 4 famous biographies. I used to like quoting St Francis of Assisi, ‘Preach the gospel all the time. Use words if you have to.’ And it’s easy to make general statements about Jesus that support your own argument, but don’t really match up to the evidence. But I feel confident asserting this one because it was something I didn’t believe that got challenged by, you know, actually reading the Bible for myself.

I was looking at how Jesus carried out his mission, and although in several months I got no more than a few months through his public activity, I discovered loads from that. Jesus didn’t just do what I thought we should – that is, not press the ‘god-conversation’, but not bottle it if it comes up. In fact, he constantly brings up the subject. (Have a look at John, chapter 4, for a prime example. If you need convincing like I did, have a look at Matthew chapters 4 & 8, Mark chapters 1-2, Luke chapters 4-5, John chapters 1-4.)

You know, I actually think we should be able to talk even more frankly about the ‘faith that helps us’ with our friends, colleagues, family, neighbours, than my doctor friend can. But in practice that does feel awkward as we’ve already said; and honestly, I’m not comfortable doing that yet.

My point is that at the very least, we can feel happy doing what doctors do, legitimately, all the time: let people know it’s okay to talk about faith, and see where the conversation ends up!