Similarity

For the past year and a half, I have been involved in ministry in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). In a very real sense, North Korea is as far outside church walls as it is possible to be. The following thought occurred to me when I was there a few weeks ago:

Something we do well as a church, both nationally and in the greater Anglican Communion, is to emphasize similarities rather than differences. I think that looking for and emphasizing similarities is something we ought to do in the Outside Church Walls process; similarities between different traditions, between nations, between people of faith and the unchurched, etc. It seems to me that putting labels on others (“Christian”, “believer”, “atheist', whatever) often leads to making hasty moral judgements which tend to impede accurate data perception; and accurate data perception is of course necessary for making sound moral judgements.

In the DPRK, I sense many similarities with our own values: an abiding spirituality in the face of great difficulties, a feeling of community, a message of caring for the poor and disadvantaged, and-- despite what we are told in our media-- a sincere desire for Peace. I realize these are complex issues of missiology that have to do with the core values of a people or religion, but isn't that what we Episcopalians should be thinking about as we examine ourselves in the 21st Century? Who cares about the labels (which are really just differences of form) if the similarities (substance) are solid?


I think we should guard against feeling or thinking that others should necessarily look or act like us or do things our way in order to be acknowledged for sharing similarities.

Peace,
Brad