Christopher Ash relates how he once read of a dispute in Britain between the Foreign Office and the Treasury. The argument was about which British Ambassadors would be provided with a Rolls Royce for their official duties in a foreign capital. The Treasury unsurprisingly wanted these wonderful cars restricted to a few: perhaps Washington, Moscow and Paris. The Foreign Office argued for many more, and I love their reasoning. Most people in a foreign capital have never been to Britain, they said. But when the see this magnificent car gliding through their streets with the Union flag on the bonnet, they will say to themselves, ‘I have not been to Britain, I don’t know much about Britain. But if they make cars like that there, and in those days we did, then Britain must be a wonderful place.’ – In the same way, unchurched men and women should see how we Christians behave and say to themselves: ‘I have never seen God but if he can make believers love other people and love one another like this, then He must be a good God.’

Source: Christopher Ash, adapted from Married for God, 2007, Nottingham: IVP, p.96