Listening--and Talking--to Left-Wing Believers

In an earlier entry, I commented on the efforts that political "progressives" were making to reach out to Christian conservatives. In "Don't Be Afraid of the 'Christian Left'," Ken Conner says that Christian conservatives need to join conversation with believers who are on the left-wing of politics. Conner is the past president of Focus on the Familys Family Research Council. He writes:

As fellow believers, we should not be afraid to engage the evangelical left's ideas in a spirit of love. It would be a mistake, as we begin this dialogue, to view these men and women as "political enemies" rather than fellow members of the body of Christ. From the outset, we should insist that our discussions be grounded in our mutual love of Christ rather than our differing political commitments.

He calls for both sides to learn from each other, but since he's a conservative writing in Human Events, which bills itself as the "national conservative weekly," his call is primarily to believers on the right wing of politics.

He says that conservative evangelicals need to accept the call from liberal evangelicals to wrestle with issues we tend to ignore, such as poverty. He says that respectful engagement with believers on the left wing will serve as a witness to the Christian unity that transcends politics. And he says that listening to members of our Christian family on the left will keep us from getting mentally lazy.

Good stuff.