It’s strange when something you are reading connects with what’s going in in the nation or the world at large. In Robin Jenkins novel A Would-Be Saint the success of Lendrick Rangers Junior Football Club is generally recognised to be due to the skills of two very different men, Gavin Hamilton and Grunter Houliston. Gavin is the perfect role-model:
‘He had never been known to utter a bad word on or off the field, he drank nothing more intoxicating than Iron Brew, he did not smoke . . . and he was Superintendent of St Andrew’s Parish Church, Auchengillan.’
This led some people to wonder if his skill as a footballer was connected to his ‘clean living’. On the other hand, however, Grunter:
‘ . . . cursed and blasphemed, drank heavily, smoked 40 fags a day, and fornicated with loose women.‘
This leads the writer to aver:
‘It had to be accepted therefore that there was no necessary connection between a man’s private morals and his public performance, whether as a footballer, a clergyman, or a politician.’
If you listen to the news or read a newspaper then this will sound familiar. The latest shadow to fall on Boris Johnson’s private life has led some people to question whether he is morally fit to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. But there is no shortage of people who would argue that nothing that has been revealed about Johnson’s character should disqualify him from high office and many examples of effective Prime Ministers and Presidents have been cited whose private lives have not measured up very well to the highest standards.
Whatever you feel about this what is beyond doubt is that character was very important to Jesus. Consider his parable in Luke 8: 16-18:
“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”
His disciples have to recognise that they are called to shine as lights in the midst of their community. And to remember that in the presence of God they have no private lives. Nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nothing concealed that will not be brought out into the open. The way forward to authentic discipleship, to consistency in living according to Jesus’ ways is to listen carefully, to allow the teaching of Jesus to take root in the depths of their being, to shape their character and make their witness effective.
It is interesting that this parable is sandwiched between the Parable of the Sower and the story of Jesus‘ mother and brothers coming to see him while he was teaching but unable to get near Him because of the crowds. The Parable of the Sower speaks of seed that fell on good soil which stands for ‘those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.‘ (Luke 8: 15) When Jesus is told that his mother and brothers have turned up he says: ‘My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.‘ (Luke 8: 21)
So listening to the Word is of vital importance, that listening that results in lives that are shaped by the Word and can stand up to scrutiny. How deeply has the Word taken root?
It may well be that the private lives of sportsmen, actors, singers, politicians do not have a negative effect on their public performance but for the follower of Jesus there is no hiding place. Sadly the history of the Church is littered with examples of those who performed the Christian life in public but in private were very far from the ways of Jesus. There is a sense in which none of us is totally consistent in our character. That’s why it’s important for us to continue to listen carefully and as a consequence live fruitfully.
