Render Unto...

I have not been blogging much lately because we are having one of those weird computer issues in the office where I cannot access my blog from there. Anyway...

Tonight, I was able to be a part of something unique and interesting happening at the Rochester Church. For the month of October, we have conducted a Wednesday night series entitled "Render Unto..." The purpose of this series was to hear from four different people in the church regarding how faith shapes their politics.

While I disagree with each of the presenters in some way, I have a tremendous amount of respect for each of these men for the willingness to share their convictions in a public setting such as this. They knew in advance that some people would not agree with their views. They were probably also aware that some people would react in a negative fashion towards some of their opinions. But, they all offered to present in light of these things.

Tonight, in the fifth and final evening of the series, I was asked to serve as moderator for a panel featuring all four men. This was an honor and a challenge. Over the last week or so, members of the Rochester Church have given me questions that they hoped the panel would answer. I had to consider all the questions and decide how to choose the ones that would make it to Wednesday night.

This was not an easy task. There were a lot of good questions. I had to eliminate some, reword some, and combine others. In addition, I listened to all four presenters' talks twice in the last 5 days. It has been quite an interesting week.

Tonight when we gathered together, I attempted to frame the evening with the idea that this is a time of dialogue. One of the things I learned this week from listening to these men, and subsequently shared with the crowd, was that we need to listen to people's stories before we react to their positions. We all bring a unique story to the conversation, and that story shapes who we are and how we act and react.

After a brief introduction, we spent about 40 minutes engaged in healthy discussion. In all, I believe we addressed six of the questions I had prepared for the evening. We covered issues ranging from the role of government to the sensitive subjects of homosexual marriage and abortion.

One of the things that impressed me most, was the way all four men handled themselves. I have watched plenty of political talk shows over the years, and inevitably, someone on the panel always loses their cool, resorts to cliches, or just gets plain nasty. There was none of this - zero!

I closed out the night by refering to Jesus' words to His disciples:

"So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:34-35)

If we want to be the body of Christ to the world, our primary identity cannot be our positions. I agree that we need to stand up for what is right. We cannot ignore morals and convictions. But, when we stand so firmly for our position that we are not even willing to listen to our brothers and sisters in love, then what are we fighting for?

shine!
Jason