This plenary session from the Missio Alliance 2013 Gathering ventures into the difficult waters of humanity, sexuality, and desire. Tory Baucum, Cherith Fee-Nordling, Debra Hirsch, and Alan Hirsch peel back the layers and get to the essence of what the biblical narrative is communicating – namely, that the story begins with original design, not original sin, and reaches a crescendo in Christ as the image of God and embodiment of our human destiny.
Plenary Description:
Is this life all there is as far as our humanity goes? What would it mean to receive the Christian hope of salvation as “for the body” as opposed to merely “from the body?” As we think about and participate in the story of God’s involvement with the world from creation to new creation, how might this transfigure our bodily enactment of God’s future in our present relationships?
As the North American Church seeks to participate as fully and faithfully as possible in God’s mission in the world, questions about the nature of humanity, sexuality, and desire are among those at the forefront of our minds and conversations.
The audio download of this plenary is available HERE and is available for free all day today, 1/6/14 (discount automatically applied when you add the workshop to your cart).
**If you find resources like this helpful, there are many more available here. You might even want to grab a bundle all at the same time.**
Missio Alliance Comment Policy
The Missio Alliance Writing Collectives exist as a ministry of writing to resource theological practitioners for mission. From our Leading Voices to our regular Writing Team and those invited to publish with us as Community Voices, we are creating a space for thoughtful engagement of critical issues and questions facing the North American Church in God’s mission. This sort of thoughtful engagement is something that we seek to engender not only in our publishing, but in conversations that unfold as a result in the comment section of our articles.
Unfortunately, because of the relational distance introduced by online communication, “thoughtful engagement” and “comment sections” seldom go hand in hand. At the same time, censorship of comments by those who disagree with points made by authors, whose anger or limited perspective taints their words, or who simply feel the need to express their own opinion on a topic without any meaningful engagement with the article or comment in question can mask an important window into the true state of Christian discourse. As such, Missio Alliance sets forth the following suggestions for those who wish to engage in conversation around our writing:
1. Seek to understand the author’s intent.
If you disagree with something the an author said, consider framing your response as, “I hear you as saying _________. Am I understanding you correctly? If so, here’s why I disagree. _____________.
2. Seek to make your own voice heard.
We deeply desire and value the voice and perspective of our readers. However you may react to an article we publish or a fellow commenter, we encourage you to set forth that reaction is the most constructive way possible. Use your voice and perspective to move conversation forward rather than shut it down.
3. Share your story.
One of our favorite tenants is that “an enemy is someone whose story we haven’t heard.” Very often disagreements and rants are the result of people talking past rather than to one another. Everyone’s perspective is intimately bound up with their own stories – their contexts and experiences. We encourage you to couch your comments in whatever aspect of your own story might help others understand where you are coming from.
In view of those suggestions for shaping conversation on our site and in an effort to curate a hospitable space of open conversation, Missio Alliance may delete comments and/or ban users who show no regard for constructive engagement, especially those whose comments are easily construed as trolling, threatening, or abusive.