Page 3:
Becoming a Reconciled Community
An Interview with Tim Otto
By Joe Krall
Editor’s note: Oriented to Faith is one of our Books of the Month for August. Join us in our forums for conversation on the book, starting Sat. Aug 1…
ERB: I attend a church-affiliated institution (the University of Indianapolis, United Methodist-affiliated), where our chapel community is a mixture of Catholics, Presbyterians, United Methodists, evangelicals, and Pentecostals. We’re a motley crew! Within our own community, there is plenty of disagreement and cross-pollination of views. If you could address a group of such college students regarding this conflict, what would you say?
TO: The first thing I’d say is “Keep going!” That’s awesome that you gather such a diverse group together and are listening to each other and talking to each other. Praise God! That’s super-encouraging!
I would say that the cultural pressure is all towards homogenization and discarding difference for the sake of unity, but my encouragement would be that the best unity happens within the diversity. Mine the riches of each of those traditions! Appreciate the traditions. We live in a time where experience trumps everything. Experience has its place, but the role of Scripture is absolutely crucial, and also the witness of reason and the tradition. I’d encourage you not to disregard those things for the sake of unity, but actually to mine those traditions and use them as a source of blessing for each other.
I’d also encourage you – it’s so easy to engage in the “outrage porn” that happens on Facebook, and shout about how we ought to be more LGBT-friendly or racially sensitive. And of course, those things are right. But the crucial thing is to do the hard work of actually being a friend to someone who’s really different from you. So I would say find one person who comes from a different racial, cultural, socio-economic background, and do the hard work of being that person’s friend – because that’s the work that counts.
Finally, find a mentor. Find someone who has given him or herself to God, and is willing to pass that on to you. And after being in that relationship awhile, find someone to pass that on to. That’s the heart of the Christian faith. That’s discipleship.
ERB: Anything else you’d like to add for the readers of the Englewood Review?
TO: In some ways, my book is a long argument for the importance of church. Church is hard. But then again, almost everything in life that is important and good and beautiful is hard. It’s crucial that we learn how to be in solidarity with others, to be reconciled with others. Doing that is a huge challenge that requires our best efforts and thinking and work, but it is worth it. And as we do that work, and become a reconciled community, that bears witness to the world and also transforms us into mature lovers. Church, at its best, is making room in our lives to allow other people to love us and to love other people. That’s so easily lost in what it takes to keep an institution going, but that’s the heart of it. And we desperately need to recover that. Take church seriously!
——-
Joe Krall is an ERB intern this summer, and a senior at The University of Indianapolis.
C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). Connect with him online at: C-Christopher-Smith.com
 Reading for the Common Good From ERB Editor Christopher Smith "This book will inspire, motivate and challenge anyone who cares a whit about the written word, the world of ideas, the shape of our communities and the life of the church." -Karen Swallow Prior Enter your email below to sign up for our weekly newsletter & download your FREE copy of this ebook! |
Understanding Christian Nationalism [A Reading Guide] |
 Most Anticipated Books of the Fall for Christian Readers!
|
 Hilarious One-Star Customer Reviews of Bibles |
