Dog Days

Not every title is as descriptive as originally imagined. When considering a year’s worth of blog posts I knew that it would be hot this time of August. I didn’t know then that we would have about 4 inches of rain this week.  Wow--even more humid than I imagined! Not just sultry; tropical. 

I signed a contract this week for my first book which means that I have 3 weeks of nerve-wracking editorial work ahead of me. My sermon was done Monday. I’m about shoulder-deep in background work for my final sermon series of the year from 1 Corinthians. Our church is hosting a blood drive today and our board meets tonight. Last week? Hectic. In addition to pastoral, preaching, writing, and leadership ministry Mrs. Beckman and I are also involved in nearly continual cat wrangling. To whit…Photos!

Gray Beckman Cat Extraordinare

Jack (dear & departed)

Darlin'

 

Lucky

The “Dog Days” have come and the cat Rodeo continues but In the midst of all that, my mind is still a turning.  So here are some more random observations on Biblical, thoughtful living coming to you from a very humid bend in the river in Southeastern Illinois.

Freedom & Liberty

We hear so much about this topic. It dawned on me this week as I was studying for this Sunday’s message about regeneration that liberty, freedom, self-determination, and autonomy are not new ideas. They are not recent innovations. In fact, we find the first example in the Bible.  The first human beings who said, “give me liberty or give me death!” Were Adam and Eve.  That is the short version and you might want to keep that in mind when you hear someone bloviating about personal freedom.

Results

In real life, you don’t always get your way. Human civilization continues to exist because along with opposable thumbs, language, and baseball; God has also given us the gifts of reason, the ability to negotiate, and the capacity to compromise. Human intransigence is thankfully, episodic and self-correcting. The zero-sum game mentality tends to rise and fall because the world is a harsh, unfair place to begin with and sometimes it’s better to work together than it is for opposing camps to stand across the street and throw horse manure at one another. 

But how? In an age defined by increasing polarization, disinformation, and loyalty tests how can we engage in conversations with others that have the potential for meaningful change? This is essential not only to evangelism but in everything the church does. What good do we accomplish if we cannot pass a budget, hold a meeting, debate an issue, or clarify a question without having a quarrel or outright fight? 

A dialogue is a conversation moving toward a purpose. Politics, School, Church Board Meetings. These are examples. You can have a dialogue, a monologue, a harangue, or a fight. Which do you think is most productive? How do we keep dialogues from collapsing into conflict so that we can get the job done serving the state, the student, or the Church? 

1. Terms
2. Tone
3. Temperature

Terms

A productive dialogue or conversation begins with a clear understanding of what is being discussed. This can be established by precedent (agenda for a board meeting or course syllabus). It can be determined by the party who has the stronger hand. It can be agreed upon by mutual consent. The fact is it does not matter where this consensus comes from or who drives it. The only issue is agreement about the content of the discussion. If you cannot agree about that you don’t even have a conversation, dialogue, negotiation, or argument. You have mutually exclusive grandstanding. 

Tone

A productive dialogue requires that participants take ownership of the tone with which they interact with others. This is largely a matter of attitude. If someone enters a school board meeting concerned with un-budgeted spending they may have a skeptical, critical, inquisitive, ironic, doubtful, or disbelieving tone. The tone should be neither emotional nor intellectual. Your tone establishes the kind of answers you need to make good decisions. Productive dialogue requires that each individual be allowed analyze data and information in such a way that others can first, understand their point of view, and secondly, see what needs to be resolved . Particularly when they disagree.  I may be optimistic, the other party pessimistic. This knowledge helps me to approach that pessimism in such a way that consensus is possible. If all I want to do is castigate the pessimist, denigrate them for their pessimism, and humiliate them; the chances are that consensus is impossible. 

Temperature 

Finally, a productive dialogue requires someone to set the temperature. This is where our current culture seems most challenged. Every conversation between groups or parties of differing tone seems to devolve into a fight. The other has become the enemy. They and we are locked in mortal combat and there must be a loser. No compromise! No negotiation! No in-between! “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!”

My Terms=“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,” (Ephesians 3:8 ESV)

 My Tone=“preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2 ESV)

My Temperature=“Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?” (1 Corinthians 6:7 ESV)

Liberty without Jesus is a cruel joke of our adversary. You can help set the terms by which you live. You control the tone(s) you take in debate, conversation, negotiation, or plea. You set the temperature. Consider this. Those who set out to burn others, often burn themselves.