Welcome, friends, to the beginning of a new conversation! My hope is that it will be edifying for all of you who choose bless us with your attention and participation. Agree or disagree, you all have my deepest thanks. My goal in starting this conversation is to take up the exhortation of the apostle Paul, “Let us strive therefore for the things of peace and of building one another up” (Rom. 14:19).
Make no mistake, however—this is no call for facile consensus or mutually-reinforcing groupthink! Our present reality is a not always a comforting one, and any conversation which seeks to address it honestly must make all who participate in it profoundly uncomfortable. Building one another up requires starting from a foundation on the bedrock of truth, finding which often requires clearing away the seemingly solid sands of unquestioned assumptions, superficial agreement, ideology, or group identification.
As Jesus declares, “no one puts new wine in old wineskins; otherwise the wine is lost and so are the skins; but one puts new wine in new wineskins” (Mk. 2:22). Meaningfully addressing new situations requires new forms, a willingness on our part to think anew. Although it would be easier if it were so, the old truths are not as self-evident as they once were. Christianity can no longer take its relevance in our culture for granted as it once did. The verities of previous theological and political syntheses, whether liberal or conservative, appear increasingly in doubt. The responsibility thus falls on the present generation of believers to give a thoroughly-reasoned, comprehensible defense of the hope that we have in us (1 Pet. 3:15), to describe the gospel as good news to the present context, including in cyberspace, specifically the blogosphere.
Our purpose here is to discuss present issues and concerns from an explicitly Christian perspective. That is, to try to interpret our times in the light of Jesus Christ, whom Christians hold in faith as the definitive sign of God. This is a great undertaking requiring humility on the part of anyone who would attempt it. It stems from the challenge Jesus issues in the Gospels: to understand and to love one another, to respond to God’s grace with profound generosity. While these teachings are timeless, in order to be meaningful we must learn apply them in our own times.
Learning requires conversation, to open ourselves to others and to be open to them in turn. Such openness necessarily entails personal commitment and risk. We must be willing to make mistakes—to get it wrong sometimes—if we are going to learn. My intention is to provoke thought, not to give offense. In my desire to do the former, it is quite possible I might wind up doing the latter. Praying with our Lord, “forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors” (Matt. 6:12), I can only ask for the forgiveness I give first to others. Therefore, in the spirit of charity, welcome everyone to what I hope will be a fruitful and stimulating conversation.