Let me backtrack
briefly to say what the book is about. It is a book to help Christians think
about how they/we share our faith and encourage others to follow Jesus. It aims
to help develop confidence in handling bits of conversation that take a
spiritual turn. One of the refreshing things about this book is that the
authors are aware that there is a great deal of bad practice which has gone on
and that it has brought Christian faith into disrepute. Sometimes explicitly
and often implicitly, the reasons for bad practice are gently but firmly
challenged and a better way is pointed up.
Dale and Jonalyn do
a good job of rooting the whole endeavour in loving neighbour, and this is
indeed the right place to start. They encourage and model by the examples they
give, genuine friendship which is respectful, gracious, committed to
relationship and the good of the other person. They are able to write of
friends who have come to faith and friends who have not and the way they write
shows a genuine love of those who fall into both categories.
Where I have slight
hesitations it would be that sometimes I felt they offered examples or
approaches that felt a little too bold for me. I can't work out whether that is
something to do with the differences between USA and GB in cultural terms or
whether at times the boldness seemed to slide into inappropriate challenge. I'd
also have to say that the hedging about creation and evolution was not to my
taste but reflects the USAmerican scene. Though I'd want to say that, given
their obvious ecclesial context in this regard, the approach they outline is
good: they model and enjoin that we keep the main thing the main thing and
don't dump our in-house arguments on people for whom it means nothing and who
will run a mile if we insist on conformity to our pet hobbyhorses. Of course,
that may not work with some who seem to have worked themselves up into a lather
about it and can scarcely recognise those of us who differ as Christians. At
least they are aware of the serious difficulty 6-day-creationism presents for
apologetics and that there are many Christians who don't think like that.
I was interested in
their approach to the issue of homophile relationships too. I think that this
is, in our culture, a defining issue and so it is helpful to note their
approach. If I read them aright, they tend to the inherited view that sex
outside of marriage in wrong and that marriage is between a man and a woman.
However they clearly hold this view with graciousness and with room between
their understanding of the matter and the issue of following Jesus. Jonalyn tells of one of her friends who is
Christian and in a committed relationship with another woman, she tells it in a
positive way and with a humble attitude.
They tell stories touching on this issue which show that they are most
keen to invite people to consider Christ and then (and only then) to work out
what it might mean for their relationships. I think that approach has integrity
and is helpful. It is miles away from the hatefulness of Westboro Baptist
Church and represents a way ahead for those who don't accept the rightfulness
of committed gay relationships.
Coffee Shop Conversations on Amazon.co.uk -just change the "co.uk" into "com" for the US version.
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