Difference

I have just been reading the farewell sermon of Bishop NT Wright. Many of you will recognize that name from some of his writings. He is often quoted as a respected, somewhat theologically conservative church person. But one who is willing to engage in the ongoing theological conversation with others of more liberal perspective. Most notably in The Meaning of Jesus with Marcus Borg.

But this is not about NT Wright, exactly, but about an intriguing sentence in that sermon of his.

He said Christians needed to learn “how not to please ourselves” but make room for one another and live in harmony.

He said: “It is fatally easy to squeeze out or sneer at people who for whatever reason appear not to fit our model; and when we do that, we more or less guarantee that they will not be able to hear, let alone believe, the message about Jesus that we preach.”

He continued: “It’s fatally easy to imagine that all my prejudices are theological convictions and that all your theological convictions are mere prejudices.

“That’s not to say that there aren’t such things as genuine convictions and prejudices, only that it’s often difficult to sort out which is which.”

He admitted that welcoming others was not easy and that Christians still needed to be able to tell the difference between the “differences that make a difference and the differences that don’t make a difference”.

I could say more about this but I think I'll just leave it with you. I thought it was lovely and if I'm honest with myself, there are many things that for me are clearly differences but I can't really be sure that they make any real difference.

What do you think?

Posted by Marion