The bete noir of the moral crusaders for t.v. has to be Gordon Ramsey, he of Ramsay’s Kitchen and Hell’s Kitchen fame.  He has created headlines around the world for the frequency with which he drops the f-bomb.

I must confess I find Ramsay’s Kitchen gripping, and indeed probably the best documentary series on leadership I can recall.  It’s so good I’d love to write to him and propose he do a Ramsay’s Church, starting with mine!

Gordon Ramsay’s style is brutal, in your face honesty.  But he makes sense.  He reads dysfunctional situations quickly, works out what needs to be done, and comes up with creative ways to bring home much needed truths to the employees and owners of struggling restaurants.  Once the plan is in place, he is uncompromising in getting people to do what he suggests.  Through all this, he uses the f-word continually.

I’m not offended by it, and I’m not sure why.  I think there are offensive ways of saying the word, and then inoffensive ways.  Hanging around soldiers for as long as I have you don’t notice the f-word so much.  It’s a regular part of virtually every sentence for many people.  For the most part, Ramsay’s use of the word is almost like a verbal tick.  It has become part of his trademark.

He is an interesting story.  Born in Scotland, raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, he was a professional footballer for 3 years from the age of 15, but a knee injury meant that he would be scoring goals in the cullinary world instead.  After an apprenticeship with a succession of big names in the food world, he ran restaurants for Italian financiers before opening his first restaurant.  The rest is history.  There are a few family issues like having a brother who is reportedly a heroin addict.

One fascinating little detail I have picked up is that he spends upwards of $200 000 a year on a team of 20 mystery diners who give him great feedback on all his establishments.  He pays them to give him bad news.  Apart from reporting their own experiences they are asked to listen in and observe other customers experiences.

I’m thinking it could be a fun idea to interest Gordon in taking his troubleshooting skills into the ecclesiastical world. Imagine a straight talking no nonsense Ramsay coming into your church and and pointing out things from a perspective we rarely consider?  He would be provide a unique viewpoint that can help us understand how people from outside the cocooned church world encounter us as Christians in our places of worship.

Ship-of-fools already has a similar thing called Mystery Worshipper.  Ramsay could take that idea further and provide some blistering and much needed critique to help us get our act together.  Gordon, if by some amazing sequence of events you happen to read this: hows about it?  We’ll even let you loose in our kitchen!