Across the Pastor’s Desk by Mark Boorsma

There is some dispute as to who said it first.

Some say Winston Churchill, some say Oscar Wilde and some say George Bernard Shaw.

But the quip is that Great Britain and the United States are two countries divided by a common language. Many English words and phrases differ in meaning on opposite sides of the pond. Differences in dialect and pronunciation can make communication extremely challenging.

On a train once, en route to Heathrow airport, I struck up a conversation with a gentleman from Manchester (in England, not the one in Freeborn County).

Although we would both report “English” as our mother tongue, we hardly understood a single word the other uttered. We repeated ourselves frequently and spoke slowly, trying hard to decipher one another’s accent.

This week is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, since Christians find themselves in multiple denominations divided by a common faith.

While Christians claim Jesus of Nazareth in common, any summary of essentials will differ widely across the entire family of Christian traditions. After all, in the beginning God created humanity in God’s image, and humans have been trying to repay the favor ever since.

Too often the Christian faith has been experienced as a debate to win rather than a path to follow. But for thoughtful Christians (indeed, for thoughtful people of any faith, or of no faith at all), deeper understanding is best gained through shared experience.

So, I have two simple suggestions for anybody who might want to observe the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in a meaningful way.

First, whatever your prayer practice might be, choose six people whose thinking often perplexes you. Commit to praying for these six people daily for at least a week. Please understand that telling them, “I’m praying for you,” even when well intended, will usually sound patronizing. So don’t tell them. Just pray.

Second, if you know a friend or co-worker who practices a faith different than yours, express interest and offer to accompany them to their services of worship. Then ask lots of questions about whatever you may experience. Most people will be flattered that you take an interest in their faith, but of course you should respect any discomfort they may express while talking about their faith. Your goal is not to convert or be converted, but simply to inquire into another human being’s spiritual point of view.

Some readers may think this sounds fun. If that’s you, I say congratulations on your spirit of adventure. Others will feel more uneasy about this second suggestion, and will choose not to do it. Good. It’s a free country.

Tomato, tomato, potato, potato: let’s NOT call the whole thing off. Turns out that actually building unity might require a bit of work, and plenty of prayer.

 

Mark Boorsma is the pastor at Ascension Lutheran Church in Albert Lea.