A few years ago there was a craze for wearing wristbands with the initials 'WWJD?'. What Would Jesus Do? This was not something I found particularly helpful but upon reflection it did seem to me they were asking the wrong question. A wristband with the reminder 'HWJDI?' might be more helpful. How Would Jesus Do It?.
If any of my non-existent readers have been wondering, in their hypothetical way, why this blog is different from most writings about ecumenism, here is my answer. It is different because my interest in ecumenism is more about process than content. Usually, ecumenists write about the differences between traditions and the content of conversations aims to reconcile these differences. My interest is in how these conversations are conducted.
Obviously form and content are not independent. The way we conduct our conversations will affect content and indeed content will determine process. Where mindsets are about control, typical of many traditionalist approaches, then it is not surprising that the way conversations are conducted is also about control.
Each to their own I suppose, but it does seem to me this top-down approach to ecumenism accounts for the much reported stalling of modern ecumenism. In my experience ecumenism is dead amongst people aged under 30 (or is it under 40?).
I've done a lot of reading today and lost track where I read something I jotted down on a post-it note - so apologies to whoever wrote it. It went something like this: '...not theological dialogue in isolation but in lived and growing communion in the life and mission on the part of the whole people of God'.
This is another example of the lived vision I have been writing about recently. If we are moving to a new ecumenical paradigm it has to be through this type of lived vision. This is not an end to ecumenical conversations but a fundamental change to the way we conduct conversations.
Control comes out of a non-biblical fixation on rules or morality. Living vision, or faith, does not need rules or people to enforce them. The ability to live according to love comes through the Christian community, people seeking perfection together.
Wesley was able to leave his societies, classes and bands to meet and act as spiritual directors to each other because in the main they were able to do it. Yes, in the main, does mean they needed some help and this leads us to ask what kind of leaders Christian communities need.
They are leaders who are there not to police or control but to ensure that process does not fall into the hands of those who want to police and control. Who are those people who want to control? They are all of us; people like me. Control is not always in the hands of priests; we are all prone to thinking we know better than the Spirit. This is why we need to learn more about conversations; to understand how good conversations free us from the need to control.
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