Debs Koritsas

This is the Scottish Isle of Lewis photographed by Debbie Koritsas. Beautiful.

But not all is well on this pastoral shore. The Associated Press reports an “unholy row” between church folk and the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry company over plans for Sunday service between the island and the mainland.

The AP says Sabbath keepers on Lewis Island don’t use electricity, play games, shop or do laundry on Sundays, nor—one might presume—would they have much interest in Sunday transport on a commercial ferry.

The Reverend Angus Smith is not so sure, predicting, “Church attendance will drop, shops will open and crime will go up.” This is not the first time the Reverend Smith, a retired Free Church of Scotland minister, has weighed in on this matter. In 1965 he lay down on a pier to block a ferry from trying to dock on a Sunday.

John Roberts of the off-island Lord’s Day Observance Society, is in the fray:

The Sunday ferry service is a direct threat to this way of life which stands for Christian beliefs, the Bible and the word of God. We’ll end up with Sundays like they are in the rest of the U.K. or the U.S. where it is just, go to church on Sunday morning and the rest of the day is yours.

Peter Timms of the ferry company is getting pressure from both ends. He said the Sunday timetable was designed to avoid clashes with church services:

We remain acutely aware of the sensitivities surrounding Sunday sailings, but we cannot operate unlawfully nor fail to provide lifeline services when there is a growing demonstrable demand from the communities we serve.

Honestly?

The good Christians of Lewis Island and the Lord’s Day Observance Society (established in 1831 and recently rechristened DayOne Christian Ministries) are welcome to their scruples about what constitutes keeping the Sabbath, but if they share with Reverend Smith a faith so fragile it can’t withstand the docking of a ferry, one might be inclined to suspect they hold to a form of godliness but deny its power (c.f. 2Timothy 3). One might also suspect they see that, and many other things, differently.

“Religion,”—I was reminded of this line from U2’s Bono last weekend at InsideWork’s More Than Money event—“is what’s left after the spirit has left the building.” Is this why the manner in which a growing number of businesspeople represent the kingdom of heaven in the workplace seems increasingly potent compared with what goes on out of sight and out of mind in many of our religious establishments?

To be in the world but not of the world (as John 17 says Jesus prayed we would be) may be a delicate balance. But not so delicate that anyone bearing the name of Christ into the world has much to fear from public transportation any day of the week (and twice on Sunday).