Finding the Extreme Center?
Many of us are concerned about the increasing polarization of the American populace -- in politics, religion, and more. While there never was a time of perfect peace, it seems as if we've become more and more ideologically-driven over the years. It happens on both left and right. While the extremes are the most vocal -- right now we're seeing it on the right with some of the very vocal, almost violent responses to health care reform proposals. But the left has been there as well -- just on different issues. But, it's not just politics. Our churches are being torn asunder -- for political, social, cultural reasons. Theology is present, but it's not the driving issue (although it provides cover).
There are those who have argued for a purple politics or a purple church, where red and blue come together. I've posted my responses to a proposal for a Liberal Evangelicalism (as expressed in two Alban published books: Lost in the Middle and Found in the Middle!, both authored by Wesley J. Wildman and Stephen Chapin Gardner.
Duke Divinity School President Gregory Jones weighs in with a commentary on the possibility of an "extreme center," posted at the Faith and Leadership "Call and Response" blog. By this he doesn't mean a lukewarm compromise kind of view, but rather one that seeks to hold in tension strong convictions with an openness to others.
I think that Greg is on to something. It is out of such an understanding that I have tried to engage in interfaith work. I'm firmly committed to my Christian faith, but I have also been for some time deeply involved in conversations with and work with people of other faith. I still preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I also seek to recognize that I am not infallible, that I don't have all the truth, and that the other is my fellow human traveler on the journey of life.
This isn't an easy path to take. It's easier to stay within our little groups and reinforce our own ideologies. It's much more difficult to step out and listen to the other. Although my positions have grown more liberal over time, at heart I've always seen myself standing in the middle (hoping not to get run over!).
So, my question is this: Is it possible to live in the extreme center, so that we might be, as Paul issued the call, be agents of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20).
By the way, the picture is from the blog posting. I think it offers a good sense of what we're up to here!
There are those who have argued for a purple politics or a purple church, where red and blue come together. I've posted my responses to a proposal for a Liberal Evangelicalism (as expressed in two Alban published books: Lost in the Middle and Found in the Middle!, both authored by Wesley J. Wildman and Stephen Chapin Gardner.
Duke Divinity School President Gregory Jones weighs in with a commentary on the possibility of an "extreme center," posted at the Faith and Leadership "Call and Response" blog. By this he doesn't mean a lukewarm compromise kind of view, but rather one that seeks to hold in tension strong convictions with an openness to others.
If we have a tendency to go to extremes, what if we search for the “extreme center,” for holding ideas in tension rather in opposition to one another? We ought not shy away from strong convictions, and even “extreme” commitments to truth, goodness, beauty, forgiveness, justice and love. At the same time, we long for leaders, and institutions, that genuinely move us forward, embodying Jesus’s call to love our enemies and recognize with humility that whatever our convictions, we “see through a glass, darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12). We do see; but there are also things we do not yet see.
I think that Greg is on to something. It is out of such an understanding that I have tried to engage in interfaith work. I'm firmly committed to my Christian faith, but I have also been for some time deeply involved in conversations with and work with people of other faith. I still preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I also seek to recognize that I am not infallible, that I don't have all the truth, and that the other is my fellow human traveler on the journey of life.
This isn't an easy path to take. It's easier to stay within our little groups and reinforce our own ideologies. It's much more difficult to step out and listen to the other. Although my positions have grown more liberal over time, at heart I've always seen myself standing in the middle (hoping not to get run over!).
So, my question is this: Is it possible to live in the extreme center, so that we might be, as Paul issued the call, be agents of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-20).
By the way, the picture is from the blog posting. I think it offers a good sense of what we're up to here!
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