Stop for just a moment and think.  Clear your mind and take a breath.  Consider your worldview – your perspectives, points of view, political leanings, religious beliefs…the very lens through which you see your world.  Now, think carefully – who is the person that represents the most complete opposite end of the spectrum?  Generally, humans reserve trust and friendship with people they believe are most like them – and tend to demonize and stereotype those most different from them.

For many in America today, conservative Christians and the liberal secularists are on opposite ends of the spectrum.  One tends to hang out on Sunday mornings, the other on Saturday nights.  One votes for the Democrat, the other votes for the Republican.   The worst evil for one is social deviance, whereas the other shuns bigotry.  One is urban, one is suburban.  One wears suits, the other has dreadlocks.    One is PC one is Mac.  You get the picture.

Both live in worlds in which the other has no place.  Both exist in tight bubbles that exclude others.  In these secluded tribes, they can lob ideological grenades at other tribes and receive comfort from their peers.  All the while the chasm between people and Truth grows wider.

I had never heard of Matthew Raley when I picked up The Diversity Culture: Creating Conversations of Faith with Buddhist Baristas, Agnostic Students, Aging Hippies, Political Activists, and Everyone in Between. He speaks to this reality of ideological tribalism with humility and truth.  He draws on the story of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the well, [youversion]John 4:1-26[/youversion], as a prime example of how Jesus engaged the “other” not as a propped-up caricature, but as a unique individual.  Samaritans and Jews distrusted each other politically, religiously, and even the other tribe’s very right to exist. Sounds familiar even today, doesn’t it?

Jesus sat down next to the well, and began to cross barriers – claiming that mistakes had been made in both Jewish and Samaritan tribes in the identity of the other – both groups had inherited from their tribesmen lies about the other group.  When she showed signs that she was willing to take people (and life) case by case (rather than broad brushing stereotypes) he was able to work with her – and introduce her to the Living Water.

But herein lies the rub – do people make life-changing decisions about faith and worldview as a group, or as individuals?  Raley says its about “crowbar-ing people away from their groupthink” (whether Christian or secular or whatever) and asking them to think critically about what they personally believe to be true.  It is at this point that I think I differ from Raley.

I agree that to really help someone think critically about an issue, sometimes you have to remove their normal filters and lenses their culture gives them and let them try their best to think for themselves.  Other times there’s just not enough will-power in the person to do that, and if done properly, “salvation can come to the whole household,” as it does all over Acts.  Sometimes people come to Christ as individuals, extricated from their culture (Ethiopian eunuch, Samaritan woman at the well), and sometimes its through their community (Philippian jailer’s family, Cornelius’ household, etc.).

He admits that most people in the “Diversity Culture” as he coins it, grow up with a “street postmodernism” – and are not really sure why they hold such pluralistic views – they know perfectly well that right and wrong exist, but “what they don’t necessarily know is how to integrate unchanging principles into lives that are full of change.” (Raley, 50) Christians too believe things without knowing exactly why – and they still are distrustful of those with different views.  What ends up happening is a world full of people who hate each other for reasons they can’t explain.  Back to stereotypes.

Remember that archetypal person who you distrust the most, and put an actual face on them – someone you know at work, etc.  Find their uniqueness – something that shatters the stereotype you have of them.  Maybe its a hipster who listens to Kenny-G, or a liberal who secretly watches reruns of Glenn Beck.  You might just find yourself like the Samaritan woman at the well did, face to face with a the most important relationship of your life that you never saw coming.

A Christian community is evangelized

in order to evangelize.

A light is lit

in order to give light.

A candle is not lit to be put under a bushel,

said Christ.

It is lit and put up on high

in order to give light.

That is what a true community is like.

A community is a group of men and women

who have found the truth in Christ and in his gospel,

and who follow the truth

and join together to follow it more strongly.

It is not just an individual conversion.

It is a family that believes,

a group that accepts God.

In the group, each one finds that the brother or sister is a source of strength

and that in moments of weakness they help one another

and, by loving one another and believing,

they give light and example.

The preacher no longer needs to preach,

for they are Christians who preach by their own lives.

—- Words from Archbishop Oscar Romero, October 29, 1978

Spirituality by Carl McColeman is not your typical book on the topic.  For starters, the subtitle is A Postmodern and Interfaith Approach to Cultivating a Relationship with God. I got this book in the mail to coincide with some relationships that are developing in my life; pagan priests, self proclaimed “recovering agnositcs,” and Kabbalists.  For my entire life, I’ve spoken of my spiritual life through a “Christianese” vocabulary (correct words that don’t always make sense to outsiders) and I wanted to explore fresh ways of saying the same things about my walk with God.  This book did just that.

Though a bit bookish, Spirituality helped explore the linguistic roots of faith through etymology and cultural history.  I learned that “community” is derived from the Latin words “shared tasks” and that humus (the root of humility) means “of the earth” – meaning humility is less about self-loathing and more about being people “of the earth” — people willing to get their hands dirty to get a job done for instance.  I even was reminded of a Greek seminar where I learned metanoia (Greek for “conversion”) is more often found in an ongoing present (perfect tense) than in a finite past or present.  We are continually being converted – which is what spiritual formation is all about. Knowing the history of our language helps bring fresh insight into our sometimes subconscious beliefs.

His foundation of language as the starting point for discussing spirituality is a tricky, yet helpful place to begin an interfaith dialogue – I suppose there is no shared holy text from which to base arguments or draw out ideas – so language itself will have to do.

McColeman says that spirituality (of any faith) begins with a fundamental choice “to trust in life’s wonder rather than to fear life’s risk.  It includes the choice to live life with a greater emphasis on vulnerability and playfulness than on control and inflexibility.” (211)  McColeman hismelf is an ordained Episcopal priest who explores the practices of the ancient Celts, who themselves developed a spirituality of wonder, adventure, and delight.  He clearly defines himself as a Christian, and it was refreshing to read his admonishion not to mix all religions together – they are not trying to do the same thing and will lead to different results.  But spirituality as the title suggests, is about cultivating your faith and giving words to it is McColeman’s best gift to us.