Some would say there have been many troubled times in our world and in our denomination and in our presbytery. I believe they would be right. The times we live in today are not any different in some ways, and yet we are faced with unique challenges. The very things that seek to connect people, like social media, are also causes of mistrust, hurt and division. Free speech and freedom of expression are at the heart of core values and constitutional rights as Americans and we know that it is a powerful and inalienable right.

Mutual respect absolutely must be Implicit in our freedom of speech. And yet, somewhere along the way, social media has become a platform for "free expression" that causes us to forget that people we love and with whom we share a connection as followers of Jesus, perhaps can be at best forgotten and at worst ostracized in our zeal to express our opinions.

I've been told, even before I moved to Indiana to begin work in and with the Presbytery of Wabash Valley, that there are many people in our congregations who feel out of touch with the work of the General Assembly and the positions that current and previous general assemblies have taken. They feel unheard and sometimes disrespected. I've been told by members of our presbytery that they have shared a pew with colleagues and heard people characterize them as being ignorant... and worse... because of their political or theological beliefs. And I've been told that some feel as though they cannot preach the gospel, which has a clear message favoring the poor, the marginalized, and the disenfranchised, as being "too political" and "partisan."

Friends....brothers and sisters in Christ... we can do better. I love the power and the possibilities that technology and social media offer to bring us together. However, I am thinking that as we engage in sharing deeply held opinions on many sides of many issues, that we need, desperately, to monitor ourselves. We need to consider what we're modeling when we label people with whom we disagree as a knee-jerk liberal or a redneck, apostate or fundamentalist.

We're having and are preparing to have some hard and sensitive conversations as a presbytery. Let's exercise free speech. Let's preach the gospel. Let's call each other to account. Let's listen closely and speak with care. Let's have really good dialogue...and disagreement, even.... that is rooted and grounded in respect, in good manners and in love. I've said it before and I'll say it again: we need each other. Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us bear witness to all of the fruits of the Spirit that I know are ours: love, joy, peace. patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

Grace and peace and love to you,

 

Jennifer