Reflections
Thoughts about living a more beautiful story.
The beautiful art of asking questions
What is your reaction when you are at home and you have an unexpected knock on your front door? I know what mine is. There is a quick impulse to just hunker down as if I’m not home. Maybe they will go away.
A couple decades ago when I was a young pastor, Ann and I were visited by a couple of Mormon missionaries at our door. I decided to engage them in conversation, but didn’t hide the fact that I was a pastor in a local church. We ended up conversing for a while, and then had a couple follow up meetings in our living room, where I did my best to show them how Mormonism was wrong, and in turn they tried to show me why it was actually the best way to follow God.
Can you guess how many conversions were recorded by either side? Yep. Zero.
Why giving up on Hell made me a better Christian
Rather than just getting to know my neighbors because, well, they were my neighbors, everything I did in getting to know them became a foundation for “planting a seed” or priming them for a future spiritual conversation. I could feel the smarmy-ness of it. What was supposedly founded on love for my neighbor never felt like it. It felt more like disingenuous manipulation of my neighbor. I’m pretty sure they felt that, too. It might be why in 15 years at one address I didn’t get much beyond polite cul-de-sac conversations with those folks.
Since changing my beliefs about a literal hell, and a point-of-no-return when a person’s heart stops beating I’ve been able to love people better.
My story of following Jesus toward a more beautiful story since the 1980s, with evolving and expanding views of the love of God in and out of pastoral ministry.
Want to jumpstart your own journey? These books, podcasts, and individuals have guided me toward a more beautiful story and could help you too.