Mission of the Mind: Richard Littledale

It is a story so oft repeated as to have lost all the power it might once have had.  With a slight grin at the edges of the mouth, a preacher tells the story of ‘a church’ where there was a sign next to the coat rack saying ‘please leave your minds here and collect them when the service is over’.  It probably never happened, and is usually told as the precursor to some fairly predictable sermon on the importance of worshipping God with our minds.  That sermon is likely to be more didactic than provocative, and to abound more in easy answers than tough questions.

The thing is, there is a genuine appetite for understanding.  A few years ago, when Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code was doing the rounds and Richard Dawkins was blowing his usual trumpet, I tried an experiment.  I offered a series of six two hour, in depth sessions on Biblical history, translation, language and interpretation.  I vowed as the advert went out that I would not run it unless a dozen people came.  Over twenty did, week after week, and other series of the ‘Saturday Bible School’ have followed.  There is a desire to understand, but we need to be careful how we sell it and where we place it in the church’s life.  The content of my two hour workshops would not have suited a Sunday morning even if they could have been delivered in half an hour.

We need to be cautious about describing events or people as ‘intellectual’ too.  In my experience the title ‘intellectual’ should always be bestowed by others and never by the person concerned.  The person who describes her or himself as an ‘intellectual’ may be rather like the person who assumes the title ‘prophet’ for themselves.

Catalyst Live is not offered as an event for ‘intellectuals’, but rather for ‘thought leaders’.  To be honest, I am not sure if I qualify.  I am a Christian leader, and I relish the opportunity to be challenged in my thinking, but to call myself a ‘thought leader’ might be taking it a little too far.  I fully intend to come to Catalyst Live, but I might just leave the title of ‘thought leader’ at the door, along with the …coats.

Richard Littledale is Minister of Teddington Baptist church and also an author and regular radio broadcaster. He blogs at The Preachers' Blog - Preaching from the coalface