I wonder if you have ever heard of Frank Ilet.
No? Well, let me tell you about Frank. Let me be frank about Frank.
He is a Manchester United fan, and, in a moment of madness, or hope but certainly humour, claimed that he would not get his hair cut until the famous Red Devils won five games in a row.
He has now gone almost a year without the visit to the hairdressers. The closest he managed, or United managed, was in January of this year when they won three games.
While many people consider hair cutting as a mundane activity, there are some religions that have rules and regulations. Believing that the body is a temple, hair can be seen as spiritual in nature. Cutting the hair is then seen as a form of vanity.
And even in our Scripture, if you plough through the cheery book of Leviticus, you will read ‘You should not round off the side-growth of your head nor harm the edges of your beard’ 19:27.
So there, you have been told! Less trips to the barbers and the hairdressers. Less short back and sides. Less lying with your head backwards into the sink for a wash and a massage and after a number of hours paying a fortune for a trendy style and an expensive cup of coffee!
Who can forget the story of Samson. Look what happened to him, losing his strength after idolising Delilah. Why, why, why, Delilah? Many years ago, my oldest son, as a boy, was in a supermarket, when I bumped into a teacher I knew. After we had a conversation, she walked away, only for Craig to say in the loudest of voices, ‘Why has that woman got a moustache?’
What drew that story of Frank to my attention?
On the 23rd of September, I attended a conference at the Salvation Army in Houldsworth Street, as the Moderator of the Presbytery. The conference was called ‘Vision Casting’, where faith leaders talked and shared their thoughts about how faith can be represented in the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
I have often been intrigued by the number of sports stars who are more open about what they believe. You might want to argue that it is superstitious, that God will help ‘their team’ win – trust me, prayer before a football match doesn’t work! Or work that way!
More Christian sportsmen and women are more willing to display the name of Jesus and look heavenward. We are not good at selling our product. We are not good about speaking out or speaking up to the difference Christ makes to our lives and yet, whether you agree with the sign of the cross being made coming on or off, or when that ball hits the net, I would like to think that there is more to their faith than superstition, more to their faith than thinking God wears their colours.
They are also role models, whether we like it or not, whether their hair is in place for the length of the game. Perhaps being visible about Christ is a benefit to youngsters in particular, that they see that their favourites know that there is something more important than winning and losing; someone who does change lives.
I think back to Eric Liddell.
I think back to his insistence that he would not run on a Sunday because Sunday was the Lord’s Day. You can argue that all days are God’s days, but he not only ran the race in that super film of Chariots of Fire but ran the race that Paul writes to the Church in Philipi about, with Christ rightly as the ultimate goal.
We need to be frank and earnest.
Your friend and minister,
George C Mackay
