People come to commitment to inter-religious dialogue and collaboration by a variety of paths. As this presentation will hopefully make clear, I have great respect for all of these journeys. In light of our topic this morning I thought it might be helpful for me to describe one particular avenue which I and many others have traveled. I perceived the call to respect and learn from all the world’s religious traditions thanks to my identity as an orthodox, traditional Christian. Since persons with whom I profoundly disagree also use these terms to describe themselves, some definitions are in order.

By “orthodox” I simply mean that I am utterly convinced that at its core and in its essence there is nothing wrong with Christianity. It isn’t broken and doesn’t need us to fix it. On the contrary, this tradition often referred to as the Gospel is an expression of divine truth, a gracious gift from God, and a wellspring of life, health, and peace. Of course I do not wish to deny that fallible humans have found many ways to pervert and twist the precious insights of Christian faith. We must continually abhor and denounce these distortions. I refer to phenomena such as the Inquisition, the Crusades, religious wars, many dimensions of the modern missionary movement, and the Ku Klux Klan. I am fully persuaded that these caricatures do not express the genuine nature of Christian discipleship. We must not let them define what Christianity is. Just as we would not equate Islam with extremists claiming loyalty to it, or Hinduism with violent nationalistic movements, we should show the same respect for the Christian tradition.

My orthodoxy finds concrete expression in my acceptance of the symbols of unity accepted by the majority of Christians, such as the Bible as the Word of God; the historic confessions of faith (the Apostles’ Creed, the Niceno-Constantinoplan Creed, the Chalcedonian formula); the historic sacraments (especially baptism and eucharist); and a threefold understanding of ministry (bishops or supervisors; priests/elders as local leaders; and deacons or servant ministry). These common features must of course be constantly interpreted in specific historical contexts.

By “traditional” I simply mean that I willingly stand shoulder to shoulder with Christians of every one of the twenty centuries of our heritage. I reject no era or strand. I believe in the “great cloud of witnesses” also known as the “communion of saints.” Of course we are quite a fallible bunch. Yet I believe that I have something to learn from everyone. And so I must strive as much as possible to listen to all the voices, not just some that I find most to my liking.

My traditionalism finds concrete expression in my ongoing attention to the textual legacy of Christian authors—theologians, mystics, liturgists, church leaders, poets, musicians. My interlocutors include Augustine, the desert monastics, the Benedictines, the Carmelites, Hildegard of Bingen, Anselm of Canterbury, Julian of Norwich, the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Jesuits, Thomas Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Teresa of Avila, Susana, Charles and John Wesley, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Frances Willard, Karl Barth, Evelyn Underhill, as well as a whole host of my historical contemporaries.

I can perhaps state these matters more simply by confessing that I happen to be comfortable in my own skin. It was not always so. I distinctly remember one of the first Jewish-Christian dialogues that I attended. At that moment I was filled with disgust at the long tradition of Christian anti-semitism, and wondered if I could be loyal to a faith that had persistently been plagued by such a toxic malformation. A wise rabbi told me in no uncertain terms that I must accept my own cultural and religious legacy and stop apologizing for who I am. He told me that unless I became comfortable with myself, he really could not be comfortable engaging in dialogue with me. Since then I have slowly learned to apply the incarnational logic of Christian faith to questions of human identity. We really can’t be transcultural beings grounded in several religions. Our finitude calls us to accept the inescapable specificity and limitation of our situated existence and to make the best of it. I believe that we build multifaith community best when each of us are willing to share the gifts that have been bequeathed to us by our distinct traditions.

I am convinced that when we carefully analyze all the Christian symbols and texts the nature of the gift that is Christianity becomes clearly visible. At its heart the Gospel concentrates on the revelation of God conveyed by the person, work, and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth who we proclaim to be Christ, the divinely anointed messenger. The one Jesus named abba is a being of infinite, inclusive compassion: God is love. The great Lover grants wholeness, or salvation, to human beings not because they deserve it, and not because of conscious decisions they make. No, acting graciously in the sovereign freedom of the Spirit, we receive healing and fulfillment of our true destiny as a marvelous present—pure gift. Such wonders point to a mysterious being who escapes our conceptual grasp. To cite a common metaphor, God is a vast ocean, and at best we stand by the seashore having our feet lapped by a few waves. Yet this unsearchable Depth lays a claim on us, bidding us to follow Jesus in the path of the disciple. Jesus loved the prophetic tradition of ancient Israel, so perhaps we may best summarize this life praxis in the words of Micah: we must do justice, love mercy and kindness, and walk humbly before God.

Now I hope you can see that when one takes these central Christian claims and commitments seriously, inter-faith engagement becomes a necessity. Affirmation and embrace of all religious traditions, then, does not represent some new post-Christian move, but rather a faithful expression of the best insights developed over the centuries of Christian life, worship, prayer, and thought. Put a bit differently, persons like myself seek communion with our sisters and brothers from all faiths not in spite of but rather because of our deep commitment to Christianity.

By the same token I believe the time has come to clearly oppose contemporary distortions of the Christian tradition. In light of the core insights shared above, how can one possibly claim that it is orthodox to declare that unless a person consciously makes a decision to accept Jesus, one will be eternally condemned? How is such preaching consistent with the good news about a God who is love? How can one be humble yet assuredly know which categories of people will be in and out at the final judgment? If God loves all people equally, how can we treat neighbors with disdain simply because their religion differs from ours? How can we arrogantly refuse to learn from the wisdom inherited from their ancient traditions? Let’s be plain: in my view the all too common exclusivistic views emanating from far too many so-called Christian pulpits are heretical distortions of historic Christian faith; they represent false teaching. For over the course of history Christianity has constantly found fuller, richer, more faithful expression when it incorporated the insights of Jews, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, Germans, Native Americans, Africans, and many more. Our globalized age may intensify this inclusive process, but in its essence it represents nothing new, nothing Christians haven’t dealt with before.

So if imperialistic proselytizing cannot be a true expression of Christian mission today, what might represent God’s authentic call to persons of my persuasion? I would like to offer my tentative response by reflecting on a phrase being stressed by Steve Veazey, the new president of the Community of Christ. Steve calls us to proclaim and to enact the peace of Christ. I would like to propose some fleshing out of this fruitful concept by attending to three different audiences.

The first audience is composed of the vociferous voices on the Christian right demanding an exclusivist approach. We must challenge them and present them and all of our society an alternative emerging from the Christian inheritance I have sought to describe. Exclusivists claim that they represent a traditional approach to Christianity. We must take issue with this erroneous contention. In fact fundamentalists and their allies are thoroughly modern believers. They are innovators! Their insistence on absolute assurance and a solitary way to the truth both represent and respond to modern scientific and historicist ways of knowing. The vast majority of Christians living before the modern era would not recognize their doctrines as authentic expressions of the Gospel. To cite only one example, given their insistence on God’s election, what would Augustine and Calvin think of the contemporary fundamentalist insistence upon a conscious personal choice for Jesus as the basis of salvation? Sadly, much of the preaching we hear today is not faithful to the peace of Christ. For the abba of Jesus is replaced by a vengeful idol who seeks to eternally torment a large part of his own human creation. Think of the “Left Behind” series! We have abundant evidence that this type of religiosity does not bring true peace to individual persons or to communities. The supposedly certain verities in fact lead to constant psychological insecurity and to unending strife with those who by just being different seem to challenge these humanly constructed safe houses—which in fact turn out to be dwellings built on sand. We must recall contemporary Christianity to their true foundation which alone can bring peace. We urgently need to set our own house in order. We cannot stand by while the riches of our tradition are hijacked to buttress very particular political and nationalistic agendas. At the moment there is no peace in Christianity. The integrity of our heritage is in grave danger, and we must respond vigorously.

The second audience is comprised of all our sisters and brothers from other religious traditions. I suggest that offering them the peace of Christ means that we Christians must behave peaceably in conformity with the example set by our master. Jesus treated all human beings with great dignity. In the Community of Christ we often speak of the worth of all persons. Whenever we encounter a neighbor from another faith we have an opportunity to demonstrate that we really mean that all persons are precious. We should approach the religious other with respect and indeed reverence. The monastic traditions have encouraged this relational model by constantly stressing the great importance of the practice of hospitality. The monks and nuns suggest that every person I encounter, regardless of race, gender, or religious allegiance, comes as Christ to me. And so I must extend every courtesy and consideration to the guest. This is how we pronounce the blessing of the peace of Christ.

I wonder if you have had the experience of being invited into someone’s home only to find out that they intend to sell you something. Do you remember how offended you felt when you realized that they do not really value you as you are, but only as a potential source of income? Well, how will our visitors from other religions feel if our warm welcome is really a pretext to try to sell Christian faith to them? How rude! I therefore call upon all my Christian sisters and brothers to renounce, in the name of the peace of Christ, attempts to target persons of other religions for conversion. Campaigns to proselytize persons already committed to a different life-giving path have never brought forth good fruits. They are not successful, and create resentment and hostility. For in addition to being inhospitable, this knock-off brand of Christian mission is a form of violence. It demonstrates a lack of respect entirely out of character with Jesus’ example.

I have learned that one of the best ways to demonstrate genuine respect is to accept the gifts that others wish to offer to us. We practice the peace of Christ when we gratefully receive the treasures other religious traditions bring. Permit me to share one example that I will never forget. JW Windland and I attended the Parliament of World Religions in Barcelona in the summer of 2004. At the first session of this conference the Sikh community announced that it had set up a gudwara, a place of worship and hospitality, housed in a large tent on the Mediterranean shore. Their leaders told us that food would be served there during the middle portion of every day. Every one of the thousands of participants in the Parliament was welcome to come share a meal absolutely free of charge. On the third day I made my way there. I remain so deeply impressed by the genuine warmth of the welcome I received. I was so blessed to sit on the floor in the Sikh fashion of acknowledging the equal dignity of all persons. Dish after dish of truly delicious vegetarian food was offered to us all. The rule was definitely all you can eat! I never even saw so much as a plate for voluntary offerings. Think of the expenditure so willingly made on behalf of us all! There were lovely displays explaining the Sikh religion, but absolutely no pressure to consider joining their faith. As I left members of the community profusely thanked me for coming. This lovely community had given me a great gift, namely a reminder of the quality of generous hospitality that Christians, too, are supposed to regularly and liberally practice. Indeed, this has been my common experience in interfaith encounters. As I learn to value the great riches each tradition represents, I am somehow called back to be my best self as a Christian. I would hope that this might also be the gift that we offer to our sisters and brothers from all the religions of the world. As we extend the peace we have from Christ, sometimes by willingly receiving their presents, may they hear the summons to be a better Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jew, etc.

The third audience is made up of persons without a life commitment to any religious tradition. In western cultures such persons have often been raised in a generic Christian environment, but the call to discipleship has never received serious consideration. Now if, as I contend, Christianity is a way of life and health that results in genuine respect for all persons, why would we not wish to gently explain Christian convictions to these kinds of neighbors, and issue a respectful invitation to consider joining us in our journey to become peaceable persons truly like Jesus? This too is a mode of sharing the peace of Christ, namely by assisting in the recruitment of new adherents who will promote its various expressions. Like all religious traditions, Christianity will not survive if it never gains new converts. I am convinced that God wishes authentic Christian witness to remain in the world, and so the Spirit will continue to urge many persons to take up the cross and proclaim the Gospel. We should not resist collaboration with God’s Spirit out of excessive fear of giving offense. In short, I contend that robust evangelism and resolute commitment to multifaith encounter and collaboration are not incompatible. No, in conjunction both are faithful expressions of Christian mission in today’s world. Both are genuine forms of extending the peace of Christ.

In light of the foregoing, however, I hope you will see that I endorse evangelism that has a different aim than is often the case today, but is more consonant with the core Christian convictions I sought to describe earlier. We do not proclaim the good news because we fear that unless we do so, people will not have a chance to respond and may be eternally damned. Such motivations betray trust in a God of infinite and wholly gracious compassion. Becoming a Christian isn’t about saving your own neck. It is not an end in itself. The Gospel represents a path of transformation that turns us by degrees into loving persons who promote true peace among all of God’s creation. And so if we encounter neighbors who appear to have attained a compassionate and peaceful nature by other paths, why would we do anything other than rejoice? The religion of Jesus was never meant to be an exclusive franchise. And yet we have no basis to doubt that Christianity is in fact a way that has brought many from despair and alienation to wholeness and lives filled with meaning expressed as joy, hope, peace, and love. The fact that God has many avenues available in no way diminishes the reality of the peace of Christ! When we worship an infinite loving God, we do not need to succumb to the logic of zero sum games. There’s no scarcity of grace, but plenty to go around.

I am so grateful to be a Christian. And I am so grateful that my commitment to follow Jesus led me into fellowship with comrades representing a great variety of sacred paths. I also give thanks for those wonderful lives of faith. I testify that these wonderful, grace-filled encounters have vastly deepened my appreciation of the tender majesty of God and of the dazzling, varied beauty of God’s human creatures. Even as my horizons have been greatly enlarged, I have been continually sent back to my particular Christian vocation, appreciating the path of peace assigned to me and my coreligionists more and more. I am at home in my skin, which has the wonderful capacity to embrace all other human skins in gestures of peace.