closing the distance

I spent some hours this week watching and listening to Leadership Network's  "The Nines" while I did some work around home and office.

I want to cheer the Leadership Network for taking on topics such as "Civility in Conversation", "Changing Sexual Norms", "Immigration", and "Social Justice".   Evangelicals should be growing in a sense of urgency to engage these conversations with intention, education, humility.

I want to encourage the Leadership Network to keep diversifying in their leadership community. Though there were some unique voices close to the people most addressed in the topics, it was still a pretty homogeneous collective that reflected distance and disconnect.

A lot of times, I notice that people like myself (and including myself) spend a great deal of time in huddles talking about people and topics, searching Scripture, reading books, strategizing, and organizing programs, projects, events, but all the while we maintain an order that keeps us distant from the very folks we talk about.

Sometimes we seem to think that we only need the Word of God for authority, but even the Word of God became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.  Yes, we continue to stand on the Word of God, but if we are honestly doing that, then we should also find ourselves standing with people in our community.

At the very least, we need to find and listen to voices and stories of those closest and most affected by the topics we discuss.

Keep going, Leadership Network, and keep fighting for a diverse demographic within your network.