The Scots language (Scots is recognised as an indigenous language of Scotland a regional or minority language of Europe, and a vulnerable language by UNESCO) has many useful and helpful words available. The word I would like to think about today is ‘blether’.
The word ‘blether’ often has a negative connotation. You could say, for example, “David is a terrible blether". By this you would mean that ‘David likes the sound of his own voice and talks incessantly’. Equally you could say, “David is a terrible blether!”. By this you would mean that ‘David is a terrible gossip’. Or you could say, “David and I had a grand blether last night at the pub”. By this you would mean ‘David and I had a long, companionable conversation whilst having a drink last night’. You see - a very handy word but a word generally used in a negative way, but not exclusively so … the ‘blether’ in the pub being a positive example of its use. The word ‘blether’ is a handy word to apply to the church.
I have sat through more boring and irrelevant meetings than I care to remember. I recall the chair of one meeting telling me that it would all be much better if two ‘blethers’ would refrain from attending. Their names were William … he called them ‘Willie Waffle One and Willie Waffle Two’. He was right. Their contributions were long-winded, self-opinionated ‘blethering’. Many clergy are also professional ‘bletherers’. They are so accustomed to holding court, six-foot above the congregation in their pulpit or on their platform, that ‘they blether at great length’ whilst ostensibly delivering a sermon. I remember talking to one lady who had left a ‘blethering vicars church’. She said that whilst he droned on she was mentally reorganising her kitchen cupboards. I think it was William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army, who commenting on sermonising said - “If it cannot be said in ten minutes it should not be said at all”.
Then there is ‘blethering as gossip’. The bible tells us that ‘gossip is tasty - how we love to swallow it’. It also tells us that it is one of the very worst things we can do one to another. Again, over the decades I have met many ‘bletherers who gossip’. The damage that has been done by this, often mindless, but sometimes malicious, ‘blethering’ is incalculable.
Then there is the ‘sociable blether’. The one I suggested might take place over a few drams (in simple terms, in Scots, a glass of whisky). This was a shared, informal, wide-ranging conversation between friends. This latter use of ‘blether’ also relates to the church. The church agonises over ‘how to evangelise’ or ‘how to reach the unsaved’, or how to ‘tell people about the Lord’ … or however you want to phrase it …’spread the faith’.
The very best way is not a rally, or a service, or a tract, or a testimony, but rather ‘friend blethering to friend in companionable surroundings’. This implies that Christians have non-Christian friends. They should. It implies they want to casually and naturally discuss their faith (without shoving it down people’s throats). They should. It implies taking as long, and as often as it takes - not forcing people into choices.
A marathon - not a sprint.
I remember a ministry which operated in the western highlands and islands of Scotland. It was called ‘The Gospel Chatterbox’. It could have been better called ‘The Gospel Blether’. A marathon - not a sprint. So watch out for ‘blethers’. They can bore you rigid. They can waste tracts of your time. They can be gossips. They can also be good friends and ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.
So ‘blether well’ my friends!
David Pattie
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