Shhhh…. I can’t tell you

I have just signed my life away. It is no secret that the Olynpic Torch relay will be coming through Colchester. The date is in the public domain (6th July). But LOCOG (London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) has been keeping the route to itself. It was planning not to release the precise route until 2 weeks before the relay, which was not going to be helpful to those planning events along the route.

I have signed a non-disclosure agreement, but I now know the route and when it will come through Colchester. I can tell you I know but I can’t tell you what I know. And I can’t tell you whether your guesses are correct or not because that will tell you things you are not allowed to know.

I know. It’s rather confusing! Thankfully LOCOG have seen sense and have brought forward the date when the route will be released into the public domain to mid-March. That will make planning easier! Until then it’s cryptic messages and discreet silence from me.

At last week’s Ministers’ Conference we had some brilliant sessions with Ruth Gouldbourne, who invited us to reflect on the way we do things today in the light of the way churches worked in history (before Constantine and the early Baptists in the 1600s). One of the things that was noticeable was how difficult they made it for people to become a Christian. Early churches were at risk of persecution so tended to try to operate under the radar with cryptic messages and a discreet public silence. Someone who wanted to become a Christian would have to go through a 2 year initiation to be sure that this is what they wanted because it would have meant a radical change of lifestyle and perhaps social status. Early Baptist Christians were also persecuted so would be wary of newcomers and indeed had ‘bouncers’ on the doors to keep out strangers.

How on earth did the church grow so fast? The early Christians did not make it easy for people. Yet the church grew so rapidly that by the time of Constantine it is thought that 10% of the Roman Empire were Christians! The point is that the lifestyle of the early Christians was so attractive that people were drawn to them. They were trying to live in as Christ-like way as possible, which is inherently attractive.

I am not suggesting that we need to make it difficult for people to know Jesus. I am not suggesting that we have bouncers on the door. I am asking myself whether my life is sufficiently Christ-like to make him irresistible to others?

Be blessed, be a blessing.

And I can’t be bribed, tortured, tricked or persuaded to divulge the secret!

Three ministers went to the Ministers’ Conference and were all sharing one room. The first minister said, “Let’s confess our secret sins one to another. I’ll start – my secret sin is I just love to gamble. When I go out of town, it’s cha-ching cha-ching, let the machines ring.”

The second minister said, “My secret sin is that I just hate working. I copy all my sermons from those given by other pastors.”

The third minister said, “My secret sin is gossiping and, oh boy, I just can’t wait to get out of this room!”