Ex-Communication

We came this close to having our first excommunication last night. Not really, but Matt and Jeremy and I stayed up 'til the wee hours "discussing" the place of the Scripture in our faith. It was quite interesting if not a bit testy at times. But I think this is the beautiful thing about what we are trying to do. We have talked about the reality that there will be differing viewpoints, opinions, understandings (if there weren't, there would be no need for faith). Instead of trying to quell these differences or avoid the confrontations we want to welcome them and create a place where they can be expressed, discussed, and then crushed under the mighty wisdom of Matt and Chuck (kidding!).

Well, the rubber hit the road and I think it went well. The trickiest part is learning the ways in which people communicate, argue, debate, express. It's hard to ensure that everyone is heard when each person has different styles or aptitudes towards communication. Some people hate confrontation, others like it too much. As a side note, I think there are very few people these days who are good at debate. It seems to be a lost art. When you read Plato, where Socrates engages in debate, there is something there that we don't have much of these days. Debates exist to uncover truth, solve problems, resolve issues, not to defend ones point at all costs. When a proponent of a different view makes a good point Socrates is the first to congratulate him.

And so I think one key to opening up discussion and the flow of ideas is to recapture the positive aspects of true debate.