You know who you are
Breaking Boundaries
Let me give you the background for this question so you may understand better my question. Like a month/month and a half I went to a leadership conference, it was really wonderful because it made me think a lot and break some paradigms of my mind and heart.
Something I had in mind and became more aware of was the boundaries we as Christians have made (church and not church people, ethnic, what we think people should be, act, dress, economic boundaries, man/woman boundaries, etc) and how Jesus was all about crossing the boundaries made by his generation, and brought God to the least, the lost and the last.
Well I just want to ask a question.
In what practical ways can the boundary of "church people"and "not church people"can start to be crossed?
Something I had in mind and became more aware of was the boundaries we as Christians have made (church and not church people, ethnic, what we think people should be, act, dress, economic boundaries, man/woman boundaries, etc) and how Jesus was all about crossing the boundaries made by his generation, and brought God to the least, the lost and the last.
Well I just want to ask a question.
In what practical ways can the boundary of "church people"and "not church people"can start to be crossed?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rob Nicholls on -
Hi Ana.
This is a question worth thinking about. My starting point is to think of this in terms of any boundary crossing between people, that is to consider what we have in common. That can range from the damage that each of us carries from living in this world to the damage that each of us has done to others through being part of this world. My experience is that this comes out when we engage in work/activities together. Of course, this is especially true for men because we often only talk when we are doing things together. I know this is not a definitive or guaranteed way to go but it's a start.
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Permalink Reply by Nicolas Nelson on -
Whoa, sorry I'm so late joining the conversation!
Rob: It is a start, and might be a good one.
I think it may be more helpful to start off on a different foot: "consider what we have in common" can easily be misconstrued as visible commonalities, or similarities that give us a comfort zone with folks who otherwise are very different from us.
It is sometimes better to look for shared passions and concerns and use those as entries to relationship. Even if the other person holds the opposing view, if you are each passionate about that issue, it can be surprising how trust and understanding can be built, on a personal level.
Example: a friend of mine is president of the Farm Bureau of his state (he's a farmer himself). He won an Eisenhower scholarship to travel the world and learn about agriculture in other countries and cultures. He met a lot of Greens and eco-nuts who violently opposed some of the things he championed (e.g. cheap, widely available chemical fertilizer). But when he was willing to sit down and talk with some of those folks over a beer, he built several friendships which continue to this day, several years later. He has not won any of them to his views, but he has un-demonized his side of the issue.
That's an example of persons with virtually nothing in common (aside from speaking English and a shared appreciation for chatting over a beer) finding common ground at precisely the point where they clash. Now that's "crossing boundaries!"
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