I would speak at an event like that with one caveat… I would want to be welcomed fully as a Christian. Occasionally these kinds of interreligious experiences require everyone to drop the exclusivity of their faith. For Christians that means talk about God - not Jesus. Or if we talk about Jesus, it is expected to be about him as a teacher - surely not as Savior or unique Son of God. Ironically I haven’t run into this problem much outside of the US. In my limited experience it is usually in the US when I am asked to drop key elements of my faith to enter into religious dialogue.

I think we can be respectful of others without agreeing with them or pretending that we are all the same.

I know Rob. I’ve never met Doug. But I suspect both of them will be able to be fully Christian, bear witness to their faith in Jesus, while at the same time being respectful of other faiths.

What’s wrong with that?

I too would accept the invitation to speak at such an event if I was allowed to talk about my faith. It really would depend on what they are asking me to do. If they are asking me to join a round table, brainstorming session on how we can become more tolerate of other religious beliefs, then I would be out. If they asked me to speak on the subject of compassion, spirituality, social justice, civic community building, etc. and I was allowed to speak on any of those subjects as a Christian, then I would say yes.

There would be tremendous opportunity for a Christian to proclaim the gospel in a contextualized way to a crowd interested in various religious perspectives. This is the UP side to pluralism. People want to hear from a variety of sources on various issues and so they will lend an ear to a Christian speaking on the subject, if we speak in a way that is respectful and contextual.

If I were to make such a presentation, I would not speak on the error of other worldviews, philosophies, religions, etc., but I would simply proclaim the truth of Jesus as laid out in the Scriptures. My fear is a Christian would give into the pressure of tolerance and wouldn’t necessarily speak as a Christian. They might...dare I say...water down their message.

Certainly Rob, Doug or any Christian who agrees to speak there will be criticized, but I see it as a worth while endeavor.

Derek

A golden opportunity to witness and speak to spiritual seekers has been handed to Bell and Pagitt, and we can’t think of what possible good will come out of it? Like Wendi, I’m a little surprised at you, Todd.  Perhaps you could unpack that statement a little bit more?

And CS, when you say, “We cannot acquiesce our faith as Bell and Pagitt have in this case,” I find that remark to be patently unfair, and just downright untrue.  They have not even spoken at the event; you have not spoken to them about their intentions, and yet, you have already judged them as “acquiescing the faith,” What happened to giving a brother the benefit of the doubt?  Perhaps they are following the scriptural mandate to “make the most out of every opportunity.” They are simply witnessing the good news of Jesus Christ, and you are criticizing them for witnessing to the wrong people?  I don’t get it.

Unless you are going there to say, “I respect your right to follow a false religion that will ultimately result in you spending eternity in hell.” or “I love the freedom we have in this country to be wrong, and a false religion other than Christianity will result in the eternal lose of your soul.”
I can’t think of a good reason to go either.....
Jesus didn’t mince words when it came to decrying false teachers… nor did Paul etc.
Should we?

wow, todd & c.s.  i guess i have a hard time understanding the position you’re taking on this.

i guess i read acts 17, paul in athens, through the same lens as this “seeds of compassion” event.  paul enters the city, waiting for his friends to join him.  sees the city for what it is, “very spiritual” & engages them at that point.  yes, he is willing to call them to a place of hearing that Jesus is THE “unknown god” [to use the athenian language]. l that was their question.  but he had to first go to where they were, the aeropagus.  he went to them.  and just as a frame of reference, they’re not coming to us.  they’re not showing up in church on sunday and asking us, on our turf, in our context, under our “rules of engagement” to enter the discussion.  they’re simply asking some of the leading, respected, grounded & Godly men to participate in and effort centered around compassion.

i’m there!

Nora:

“They have not even spoken at the event; you have not spoken to them about their intentions, and yet, you have already judged them as “acquiescing the faith,” What happened to giving a brother the benefit of the doubt?”

I won’t mince words here.  Given all of their past publications, public speaking, interviews, and other dissertations on the faith, I would have to say that they are false teachers, and their theology is wrong.  That’s why I did not give them the benefit of the doubt.

Wendi:

“how is sitting on a panel with people of other faiths, SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE you profess faith in Jesus and have DIFFERENT beliefs from the other panelists, being unequally yoked?”

Given the list of the other speakers there, and the forum and purpose for which it is happening, I could not see any way in which our faith could be accurately shared.  Could you imagine, for instance, John MacArthur being put in this forum?  Or, what if someone pointed out sin, judgment, and the wrath of God to the Dalai Lama?  Think that would stand with the other speakers?

If we cannot speak about any aspect of our faith in a forum lined up with other people who can speak about any aspect of their faith, that constitutes being unequally yoked.  Not to mention the tacit “okay” we may be giving other faiths by being in such a forum.

--
CS

Wow… didn’t expect to have the push-back on this one.

I’m not saying that Pagitt and Bell are wrong for speaking there.  Most of you know that I don’t buy into that ‘guilt by association’ argument, or that you have to agree with other people on the stage at a neutrally sponsored event.

My concern is how this looks to their critics.  The buzz is already rolling on this one; and it doesn’t help the emerging cause AT ALL to be promoted at the same conference as the Dalai Lama.  Know what I mean.

As far as what will come out of this?  That was my other argument:  probably nothing.  The audience will be very spiritual, to be sure, but all over the place religion-wise.  I don’t see that an event of this type will change anybody’s mind.

At the same time, I would probably scream ‘outrage’ if there was no Christian invited to the table.

That’s all… no deep thoughts on this one from my end.  (There usually aren’t any deep thoughts on this end). 

Todd

I don’t think they care what it looks like to their critics...their critics are already critical of everything they do anyways. Besides one of the foundational principles of the emergent/emerging movement is the ability to really listen to and learn from people of other faiths. I think it is a great opportunity to represent Christ in an arena where Christ would not be represented otherwise.

Because we are the temple of God we bring His presence and Kingdom with us...and His presence and Kingdom are certainly needed in an event like this.

I can’t quite say I would “absolutely” accept an invitation, but I certainly wouldn’t write it off for any of the reasons given so far.  “What good could come out...?” Eternity.  I don’t mean that tritely, either.  It may be that we don’t see any mind-changing results, but don’t seeds need to be planted before fruit can be born?  I can see great potential for sowing...and a party in heaven waiting to happen for the one sheep who may one day be found.

As for “how this looks to [Pagitt’s and Bell’s] critics” or helping “the emerging cause”, I just have to say that I don’t think either of those things matters.  After all, if everything looked okay to our critics, they wouldn’t be critics, would they?!?  Who are we supposed to be pleasing, anyway?!  And what’s this about the emerging cause?  Aren’t we supposed to be about the kingdom of God?  Maybe...just maybe...this gives two respected Christian leaders a significant platform to speak truth to a gathering of people who could use some truth. 

Obviously, we can only wait, hope, and pray before we will know what they say, let alone what the outcome will be.

I probably would not due to my own discomfort, but I don’t knock Christians who do, particularly if they are doing it to create dialogue.  I think we each have to do what we are gifted to do.  The good that I think “could” come out of a forum like this is good, honest dialogue.  If someone’s eyes can be open to the truth of the gospel, all the better.  Atmopsheres such as this one are often a little more open to the gospel and less hostile than other venues.

Of course Bell and Pagitt would be prime candidates to appear with the lama. They won’t make waves and they will mush all over the guy. I imagine the lama will even bless them. yahoo!
fishon

I get really bothered by the expectation (CS) that a Christian must take over any forum into which he/she has been invited, use the time to condemn the sin of every non-believer present and point out every falsehood they become aware of . . . or else they’ve somehow sold out.  This is a panel that I’m sure has a moderator who will in all likelihood pose questions to which the panelists will respond.  This particular panel has been called together to discuss how their respective religious belief systems inform their opinions about and responses to contemporary issues we all face.  This is a huge panel is huge and the session is listed on the schedule to go from 9:30 till 2:30, so there will have to be something interesting about the format.  If the moderator asked something like . . .

“Despite their connectivity, statistics show that American youth feel very isolated and lonely.  What are some spiritual responses to this?”

. . . why would the Christian panelist have to respond by telling the others that they have chosen a false religion, and that Jesus is the only road to God?  I can think of many responses which represent Christianity correctly and in a way that is compelling.  Simply answering the questions we’re asked is respectful, and doesn’t mean we’ve sold out in some way.  On our turf we more control.  When invited into someone else’s (like in public schools), we follow their rules and are grateful to have been invited.  I think this rule applies here.

I understand that the critics of the emerging guys will get all over this, but Eric’s response to this makes the most sense.  To NOT do something, just to pacify my critics, something that aligns with the core values I believe God has given me, is selling out and would hardly be pleasing to God.  It seems like that is what you are suggesting these guys should do Todd.

And Fishon – [assuming that your kids are in public schools] how is it that you ascertain which faith, if any, your child’s teacher embraces?  I guess that Christian education or home schooling is the only way to assure no non-Christian has any educational influence on one’s child, which is a course of action many Christian parents have chosen.

Also, the most important thing I learn from listening and learning conversations with people of other faiths is how they think and what they believe, which better equips me to engage in discussions about Jesus.  Not learning from them, I am prone to ineffectiveness, babbling on with answers to questions they’re not asking.

Additionally, I have often learned how to live biblically by watching non-Christ-followers who do it better than me.

Wendi

Fishon –

I appreciate that you would choose to remove one of your kids from a class if you knew the teacher was Muslim, but you didn’t answer my question.  How did you figure out the religious beliefs of every teacher so that you could decide whether he/she was satisfactory?  Maybe, over the years, they did have a Muslim, Hindu, Mormon, Jehovah Witness, Buddhist, agnostic or atheist teacher.  How would you have known?

My sister-in-law is Buddhist.  Her religion teaches selflessness and concern for others.  Often when I watch the way she lives her life, how she models selfless servanthood, I am deeply convicted by the Holy Spirit.  Of course, the bible teaches me to live as a servant, but in both Jesus and my sister-in-law I find an example of this quality.  To me, that is learning.

Wendi