the other side of the fence
I think every…
post modern should have to talk to a modern about … well… anything at all really
emergent should have to talk to a traditionalist about theology
young person should have to talk to an older person about “life these days”
missional person should have to talk to an isolationist about the Gospel
person of one denomination should have to talk to someone of another denomination about their denomination
anti institutionalist should have to talk to someone from an institution about church structure
…wanna guess what I did this weekend?
…. yeah, I talked to my modern traditionalist isolationist institutionalist 54/55 yr old parents of a different denomination about missional emerging post modernism. It was great. And humbling and incredibly revealing about how little so much of this minutiae ultimately matters. If only certain high profile evangelicals could be as engaging and gracious as my parents. (man, who knew those words would ever escape my mouth? lol)
- Posted by Mak at 09:31 am
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As long as those types of conversations remain civil, respectful, and devoid of valid faith accusations, I think that kind of exchange is so valuable. The kind of relationships that exist peacefully despite differences is a testament to true unity, not the conveyer-belt, spoon-fed, cookie-cutter relationships, where the whole church has to think alike…or else and calls it “unity.”
Kudos on hopping the fence for awhile!
right, and really, my whole point was realizing how hard it is to explain yourself because really, we all have code language amongst ourselves and find our own things so important and all that gets validated when preaching to the choir.
At this point I value my relationship with my parents too much to talk about these things. It’s sad, but the way it is right now…
I was the same way and I was surprised at how non confrontational it was - probably because my dad brought it up instead of me and he had an open mind about learning something. I’m sure they talked about their concern for my soul on their way home though
I’m constantly amazed at how open minded my Mom is - but she has to be the one to initiate.
I’m also pretty consistently surprised at how much of this “new way to be Christian” really isn’t that new at all
Way to have the chutzpah to converse with your parents. May all parents (and may we as parents) be willing to understand their children in the same manner.
~H
That sounded like it was an awesome experience. I would’ve loved to be a fly on that wall!
Don - hehe..yeah, it was sort of shocking actually, afterward I though - wow, I just spent 2 hours talking with my parents about Emergent and no one got mad lol
don’t get me wrong, my parents aren’t likely to become anything but what they are right now (and I think that’s just fine) but I hope that at least something me or David said gave them some peace about where I (and my brother) am
There’s a lot of wisdom in what you say Mak. I especially like this very self-aware observation:
“we all have code language amongst ourselves and find our own things so important and all that gets validated when preaching to the choir.”
A Christian talking to a non Christian seems to be missing from this list.
except that these are all things that apply to my parents - they are christians
but yes, I agree with you, that is very important.
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