“A friend’s eye is a good mirror”

Shared insights and honest reflections for the Church in Ireland

Mirrors are almost as old as civilisation itself. The oldest date back as far as 8,000 years, to ancient Turkey. But whether it is the polished metal of the ancients or the filtered phone screen of the post-moderns, a mirror has never been able to offer a true reflection of reality. That’s why I have always appreciated the old Irish proverb, “a friend’s eye is a good mirror.” This metaphor rightly affirms how a different perspective can provide a clearer vision than anything we might glean from our own visage.

The benefit and challenge of viewing ourselves as a friend sees us might also be applied to the Church. This was brought home to me recently when two contrasting readings of the churches in Ireland were offered.

Let me begin with the beautiful, using as my mirror the eyes of Rev Arsène Mafurebe from Burundi.

During his recent visit to these shores, Rev Arsène helped me see the Church family here with renewed gratitude and joy. It happened when he made a comment about the high proportion of greying heads in many congregations on this isle. While we might interpret this as a portent of decline, Rev Arsène encouraged me to see this as the blessing that it is. From his context of burgeoning church growth in Burundi, a large population of older saints is a rich resource that should be treasured. And he is right, of course. The older saints we worship with Sunday by Sunday, those who have walked that long obedience in the same direction, offer a reservoir of mature faith that we fail to appreciate at our peril.

The observation of my Burundian friend reminded me of that old Irish proverb. But perhaps a better way to gain access to honesty is through the eyes of more than one friend. A friend’s eye might make a good mirror, but friends’ eyes make a better one. Such is the blessing of being part of a global church. We help one another practically, but more importantly we help one another to see ourselves a little closer to how God sees us.

That’s the beautiful, but a friend’s eye should point out the less flattering too.

Professor Michael Stroope is the author of Transcending Mission. During a recent presentation at the Oxford Centre for Global Mission, he unpacked ‘the modern self’, seeing it as the central problem at the heart of our western psyche, and consequently the problem at the heart of ministry. Permeating our thinking more than we even realise, the cultural context in which we operate conditions us to our very core. We are so predisposed to see the world through western eyes that, even when we think we are existing outside of this framework, we are still scaffolded by it.

This might be uncomfortable listening, but it prompts many questions that are vital for churches in the West. How do we reckon with the legacy of the church’s colonial history? What power dynamics are at play when we partner with people from other places? How do our vocabulary choices mask mindsets that haven’t really changed all that much in the last 200 years?

But lest we think these questions apply only abroad, Prof Stroope directs them towards encounters at home:

“Whether or not we use this word [mission], the real problem is mission partisans who treat desperate and traumatised men, women and children at the border and immigrants within [our] cities with disdain and contempt”.

With these arresting words we are geographically relocated back to our home turf. We are compelled to look at ourselves afresh.

These two friends, Rev Arsène and Prof Stroope, help us to see the churches in Ireland with fresh eyes, as more beautiful and more flawed than we might otherwise know.

So, let’s learn from their insights. As the profile of the Church in Ireland changes, let’s celebrate the wisdom of our elders. And in our increasingly multi-cultural context, where we no longer need to get on a plane to encounter friends beyond our shores, let’s celebrate the fresh eyes among us. There are riches to be gleaned right here, right now, with the wonderful diversity of the body of Christ in congregations across this island.

After many years teaching English to 11-18 year olds, Emma Lutton now works as communications coordinator for CMS Ireland. Between full-time work and parenting two children, she and her husband, Paul, write a blog together, www.attentionseekers.org. Their shared aspiration to pay attention to God at work in the world today directs and shapes their life together.

Please note that the statements and views expressed in this article of those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Contemporary Christianity.