An Accent on Grace

As a pastor in a denomination that has “that they may all be one” (John 17:22) as its formational theme, ecumenism and interfaith relations is near and dear to my heart.  In recent days I have been shown once again how important that work is, and how far we still have to go.

Time after time I’ve run into people whose religious perspectives are so strong, so dogmatic they are virtually incapable of thinking in a positive way about any other faith tradition or denomination.  I have no problem with people who wish to believe something different than me.  I personally believe that there is truth to be found in all faith traditions.  We cannot control how God shares the Spirit with us wacky humans down here on Earth.

Theology, doctrine or denomination will never save you.  If you put those things ahead of God, you’ve done a huge disservice to yourself, and committed idolatry.  As a Christian, I feel that we have a unique way of seeing our relationship with God, but I am not going to say that other faith traditions are false, just different.  All of us are speaking the language of God, just with different accents.

I’ve traveled here and there, both in the United States and internationally.  One thing I have discovered is that it can sometimes be impossible to understand another person who is speaking English in an accent other than mine.  Sometimes, it doesn’t even sound as if we are speaking the same language.  Then, as I spend more time with them, as I listen hard, as I give them my attention and value what they are saying, I find I am beginning to hear what they are saying, I’m beginning to understand them more and more.  I’m sure they found my accent to be difficult to understand as well.  We are speaking the same language, it’s just that our accents are so different.  Neither one of us can claim that we are speaking with the “correct” accent, but we can agree that our accents are different.

God’s grace is shown to us in the many faith traditions we have upon this spinning orb we call Earth.  We are called to be “one” as God and Jesus were one.  They were not the same, but they were united.  We are called to celebrate our unity as people of faith, as people who speak “faith”, and we do this while we live out our differences.

Do you know someone whose faith traditions differ greatly from your own?  Have you engaged in ‘God’ talk with them, not in the desire to convert them, but in the hopes that you may be able to understand their accent better?  Might now be a good time to listen?