What do we have to do with each other? This question may not be as simple as it seems. What do we have to do with each other? The question arises when two churches less than a mile apart, connected by tradition, begin to wonder if they should be doing more together and if so, what. The question is in the air when presbyteries think about restructuring for the third time in a decade. Pondering the answer quickens our heartbeat as we sit nervously outside the office of the influential local official known to be skeptical of the church. This question is intriguing because the nature of our answer changes depending on what phrase we stress. It can lead to a heady intellectual exercise comprised of creating a to-do list of actions, programs or systematic theological terms. On the other extreme, it evokes the existential, gut-wrenching inquiry, “Why we are here ... together?” What do we have to do with each ot her? What do you, the awesome person reading this article, have … [Read more...]

Never read the comments There is an adage in the social media lexicon: Never read the comments. Media outlets frequently curate their comment sections. Many curators simply turn the comments off. The social media era counts long-held conventions of civil discourse among its casualties. Comments sections, which should have been places for ideas to be discussed and debated, have become snarky, mean-spirited clearinghouses for ad hominem attacks and clapbacks. Envisioned as spaces for dialogue, they quickly devolved to disproportionately serve anger, fear and outrage. Whenever I dare to read the comments, I am usually reminded of the words of Wendell Berry: “Praise ignorance, for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.” The old Reformers explained it well enough: The weight of sin and the errors of human nature make us susceptible to the corruption of our finest ideas and tools. The amount of information provided by the modern media and the internet should make them the … [Read more...]