A New Way of Being Connected

As the political season intensifies and national elections linger just around the corner, unfeigned dialogue about life issues can sometimes be subjugated by flashy but ill-informed rhetoric and emotional, poorly crafted responses. It must be noted that in the past twenty years we have watched in disdain as religious organizations have leveraged the black and white “cowboy” mentality so clearly ordained by our present executive leadership, leaving many of us intimidated, off balance and struggling to catch up in a war of words, actions and public policy which scandalize our Christian, social justice sensibilities. When faced with well organized lobbying groups which have the funding to out-rhetoric us in almost every arena, many liberal Christians wring their hands in frustration and find solace in their self-perceived silent but superior ideological positions. “Let them attack Muslims, Jews and gays – we know we are right on these issues and justice (somehow) will prevail.” We have sacrificed our voice for the sake of propriety, and in so doing, we are missing the chance to learn, to teach and to grow.

Today we find increasingly that people are not only befriending people of like-minds, but they are choosing their churches, their communities, their schools and their recreational activities based upon a shared political platform. Democrats want to live with Democrats, Republicans with Republicans. We have conservative and liberal churches, conservative and liberal social clubs, conservative and liberal communities. We are increasingly isolating ourselves from the very people who could teach us a new way of understanding and who might be open to learning from us.

An emerging trend of self-started, intentional social groups is on the rise to combat this isolationist movement sprouting up around the country. Based on the original Christian small group ministry idea, these groups describe themselves as non-church-based organizations whose goal is to build bridges of communication between people of varying backgrounds, political leanings and economic levels. Groups like “Theology Café” and “Seekers Church” and “Philosophy Café” reach people who long for a more intellectually developed conversation about life issues with diversity being at the heart of the conversation. They meet in coffee houses, cafés, private homes and rented buildings. They gather weekly for discussion, study and fellowship. They come looking for connection, growth and challenge – and they are spreading like wildfire.

What is it about these groups that is so appealing to many today? Quite simply these gatherings are places for connection in meaningful relationships with a wide mixture of people and without the deafening rhetoric of narrow conservatism. They offer a safe space to talk about questions, fears, joys and challenges with people who will both honor their positions and offer alternatives of their own. These are not traditional church environments with “learned clergy” and “lay leaders.” Rather these are completely egalitarian communities of people who journey together in the life of faith, offering what insights they can and respecting the learning that others bring.

Perhaps through these groups we liberals will start to make our voices heard. Perhaps the gift that we bring is not stealing the megaphone and spewing a narrow agenda onto the lives of moderate Americans but rather to gently create environments for God to speak in our world today. This is good – but it is not enough.

We must remember – ours is not a history of passive complacency. We are the trouble-makers, the rebel-rousers, the abolitionist, the freedom-fighters, the emancipators. We are the people who have taken bold and dangerous stands against injustice regardless of the cost to our persons or institutions. We are the people who speak for the voiceless, work for the helpless and fight for the oppressed. We have done amazing, wonderful acts throughout history when we have had the courage to stand up and speak. And historically, we have spoken most clearly through the Church.

About fifteen years ago in a paper written for the United Church of Christ on mission, the author quotes David Bosch book Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission: “In the new image mission is not primarily an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God. It is not the church that has a mission of salvation to fulfill in the world; it is the mission of the Son and the Spirit through the Father that includes the Church’s. Mission is thereby seen as a movement from God to the world; the church is viewed as an instrument for that mission. The church is there because there is a mission, not vice versa.”

The mission of the modern liberal is not to move away from the Church but rather to move toward it. While it may feel like walking into the scorching fires of hell itself, it is the place that most needs the needs the witness of authentic discipleship and dialogue. Together we can do more than apart.

Imagine if Pat Robertson had openly gay and lesbian members join his church and refuse to buckle under his condemnation. What would happen if he had to start talking to them, getting to know them, maybe even understand them? Imagine if Christians, Jews and Muslims joined together in community projects which brought these groups into dialogue and relationship and opened the door to understanding. These are the leading social justice issues of the day. These are the ways in which reasoned, rational thought and conviction can lead to a better and more peaceful world.