if you happened to be following me on twitter you might have noticed that i missed donald miller giving the benediction for the dnc last night (i watched pbs coverage, should have gone with the cspan). thanks to youtube, i can catch a glimpse of that part of the evening. the only part i had any real anticipation for.
as you can read in comments on the youtube clip, and this site here (via phil) the response to donald is.. well, predictable. me, i liked the prayer. i haven’t picked it apart as some have, for sure, but its speaks to me on a number of kindgom levels. what would have been really nutty is if he started with "mother God." let’s start the fireworks show after that one!
I liked the prayer as well. You’re right that the reactions are predictable. I’ll be writing more about this on my blog later today, but basically I think people were looking for a prayer that would’ve polarized rather than emphasizing the positive aspects of the DNC platform. It is true that we always need prophets to call us to greater faithfulness, but political parties are not the Church (nor are Churches political parties), they are the world and the church has to find a positive way to speak to the non-Christians among whom we live without alienating them to such a degree that they reject the gospel because it’s been obscured by our arrogance and presumption. All-in-all, I think Miller did a good job of NOT compromising, praying in Jesus’ name in a place that might not have been very receptive on the whole, and placing Christ before their eyes as an example, affirming what most of them–even the atheists, agnostics and people of other faiths–probably do believe was positive about Christ. There’s a degree of all-or-nothingness among some Christians that makes us unable to affirm a gradual coming to faith among others, and that’s very sad.
I liked the prayer as well. You’re right that the reactions are predictable. I’ll be writing more about this on my blog later today, but basically I think people were looking for a prayer that would’ve polarized rather than emphasizing the positive aspects of the DNC platform. It is true that we always need prophets to call us to greater faithfulness, but political parties are not the Church (nor are Churches political parties), they are the world and the church has to find a positive way to speak to the non-Christians among whom we live without alienating them to such a degree that they reject the gospel because it’s been obscured by our arrogance and presumption. All-in-all, I think Miller did a good job of NOT compromising, praying in Jesus’ name in a place that might not have been very receptive on the whole, and placing Christ before their eyes as an example, affirming what most of them–even the atheists, agnostics and people of other faiths–probably do believe was positive about Christ. There’s a degree of all-or-nothingness among some Christians that makes us unable to affirm a gradual coming to faith among others, and that’s very sad.
donald miller at the dnc and the pandering of politics
donald miller at the dnc and the pandering of politics
thanks for the link amos, some good thoughts to ponder.
thanks for the link amos, some good thoughts to ponder.
I wrote my blog post about this:
On St. Peter’s Confession and Donald Miller’s prayer.
I wrote my blog post about this:
On St. Peter’s Confession and Donald Miller’s prayer.
Sorry, the link didn’t show. Trying again:
On St. Peter’s Confession and Donald Miller’s Prayer
Sorry, the link didn’t show. Trying again:
On St. Peter’s Confession and Donald Miller’s Prayer