humility

I may sound like a broken record, but to me, humility is one of the key foundational elements that has brought us together to work toward social justice and a Christian progressive agenda. The following statement was written as I reflected on the virtue humility this morning.

The firmness of the conviction of our faith in God's word is demonstrated best NOT in the degree to which we are willing to impose our understanding of God's will on our neighbors through political and legislative endeavors. Rather, it ought to be demonstrated in the degree to which we strive to live out the will of God in our own lives. It becomes apparent to others when the spiritual gifts are manifest in our lives by focusing our desire for change toward holiness and alignment with God's will inwardly and directing our capacity for mercy, grace, and love, toward our neighbors. Pride reverses that flow turning love and acceptance inward and turning the demand for change, conformity and holiness outward.

David

I wanted to lay out some of the key points of common ground that I think all of us share as followers of Christ, whether we lean towards conservative/literal interpretation of the Bible or a liberal/metaphoric interpretation. I believe that these common points are also foundational components of progressive politics. I don't intend to unpack each of these extensively here, but rather I want to put them on the table for discussion and for everyone's consideration.

1. Reciprocity as derived from the Golden Rule and the command to love our neighbors. The idea of reciprocity is a foundational principle for most secular formulations of liberalism. Jesus says of the command to do unto others as we would have them do to us, "...this sums up the law and the prophets" Mt 7:12. It is a command that directly dictates the manner in which we are to relate to others. The laws that we support and advocate through our political involvement effect our neighbors and so this command is perhaps the most relevant in the Bible to the way in which we ought to formulate our political agendas.