A Jewish friend told me a story about his church, but it could apply to almost any organised religion.

The Rabbi got up in a service one day, beat his chest dramatically and called out “Lord, I’m not worthy.”

The Cantor, another important religious figure in the liturgy in the synagogue, then stood up and called out, “Lord, I’m not worthy.”

Whereupon, an ordinary member of the congregation was inspired to stand up, beat his chest and shout, “Lord, I’m not worthy.”

And the Rabbi turned to the Cantor and said, “Who does he think he is.”

It’s a bit of a lesson about how false we can all be in our worship sometimes, and there’s a danger that we can all be a bit sanctimonious about our faith.

And yet, Christians are encouraged to witness, to live out our faith in a public way.

In Matthew’s gospel, we’re discouraged from praying in public, and urged to “go to a secret place”; and yet St. Paul “desires that men pray everywhere”.

It’s a balance, really isn’t it? A Christian shouldn’t “ram their faith down people’s throat”, but neither should he or she hide it. Instead live it.

Public manifestation of faith has been in the news this week, with the banning in cinemas of an advert in which people say The Lord’s Prayer. The advert was commissioned by the Church of England, with the Archbishop Justin Welby taking part; to my mind, it is beautifully done and, if we’re talking about getting a witness balance right, this ad ticks the box surely?

The decision to ban it is bonkers; not because I’m a Christian, but as far as freedom of speech is concerned. The agency said it could be offensive to people of different faiths and none; yet it would seem that there is strong support for showing the ad from opinion as diverse as atheist author Richard Dawkins to Muslim leaders.

The ban was described as “nonsense on stilts” and when you consider some of the offensive advertising that is shown in cinemas, you can see why.

But it’s also fair to say that there is a degree of support for the agency which banned the ad.

In a classic twist, the controversy over the advert has created such a flurry of publicity that the prayer has been seen and heard by many thousands more than it would have been if the cinemas had just slotted it in before the new Star Wars film when people were stilling buying their popcorn.

If there is a dilemma for Christians about how to witness, it is even more complicated in this day and age because of the way society feels that is fair game to attack Christianity. I heard a discussion recently in which someone suggested that the ills of society today, in terms of unwanted pregnancies, alcoholism, drug-taking et all, were down to organised religion, and if there was no religion there would be a better world.

Really?

And now, they don’t even want to hear us pray, say bewildered Christians.

Is there no place for God? Well, maybe it was ever thus; coming up to Christmas, we are reminded that there was no room at the inn for Jesus, and it would seem that over the centuries, there is an increasing alienation towards God from people and it is coming to the point where faith is being squeezed out of all aspects of society to the point where Christians feel persecuted.

Well, perhaps, Christians should take a look at themselves, no? We can’t say we weren’t warned that faith wouldn’t always be welcomed. And the challenge is to respond in a Christian way.

We should be “bold to say” the Lord’s Prayer, and indeed to believe in prayer.

A few weeks ago, I was very shocked to hear of the sudden illness of a young friend, an Enniskillen woman Ciara Murray. Ciara is the daughter of Paul and Mary Keenan, two close and special friends of mine for many years; Ciara, heavily pregnant, was rushed to the Royal in Belfast. Her little baby, a boy James, was born healthy, but Ciara was very seriously ill.

At a distance, one feels helpless; what could I do? Except pray. I put a simple message up on Facebook, “If you believe in the power of prayer, pray for Ciara.”

It turns out, many others were doing likewise, and I know that the family and many friends prayed hard; and that many members of the clergy showed incredible support for Ciara. She is now in a much better place, though has a long way to go.

But her recovery thus far has been remarkable, indeed it was described to me as “a miracle.”

I know many of you will disagree with me, but I think the power of prayer is amazing.

Whether the cinema shows the Lord’s Prayer or not, really doesn’t matter in the greater scheme of things; because prayer and witness are the real deal.

Christians shouldn’t get aggressive in their reaction to this; indeed they shouldn’t witness aggressively at all.

I remember writing a story a few years back about a young goalkeeper playing in the Fermanagh and Western, called Barrie Clingan, who is a Christian. It was great for a headline about a goalkeeper with his eye on the Cross! But in the piece, Barrie (now a Baptist Pastor) discussed how he lived out a life of faith in the unforgiving world of football.

But that’s the point, he lived by example in that world and said that if people ever asked him about his faith, he would talk quietly to them.

Too often, Christian faith is kept in a church building; and I think of the great line: “If you were in court accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you.”

#justpray is a pretty good start, in the cinema or not.