Jesus would often say to his disciples, “You have heard it said…” (Matt. 5:17) and then continue by quoting various sayings that were common in his day. Likewise, we’ve all heard it said many times, “Listen before you speak”. It not only makes sense, it’s good manners as well, right? Well, Jesus would follow his comments with, “But I tell you…” (Matt. 5:18). It’s the conjuncture “but” that I’d like to capitalize on to contradict the saying that is allegedly filled with sense-making and manners.

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Where are you right now? Not your location, but your current circumstances. What word or phrase describes your situation? Happy or depressed, included or lonely, healthy or addicted, joyful or grief, focused or aimless, or something else? Wherever you are, it is precisely from that place where you can begin a meaningful journey through the season of Advent.

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Imagine sitting at a banqueting table where civility qualifies you to be there in the first place. Set before you are the finest tableware. Eleven pieces of silver cutlery are precisely situated: a fish knife and fork, dinner knife and fork, salad knife and fork, soup spoon, oyster fork, butter knife, and a dessert spoon and fork.

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In this new season of blogs, I will be writing about something that has touched every area of American culture: civil dialogue, or rather, the lack of it.

What is civil dialogue?

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Every significant event that impacts human society allows us to make a fresh appearance as the Church instead of maintaining appearances as usual. In many ways, these significant events allow us to examine ourselves. COVID is such a time. I am not sure what to call it, but there is something about being human that battles for maintaining appearances instead of going through the difficult process of making a fresh appearance.

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Gen Z are the vanguards of inclusion. They lead the way forward with a singular approach to race: the human race. The concept of a singular category called the human race is nothing new. However, the place we currently find ourselves is the result of consciously labeling human beings with a race category and then unconsciously (and in some cases knowingly) assign a value to that race.

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I recently heard a Jewish academic tell a story while listening to a popular podcast:

“A Jewish survivor of the Holocaust died and went to heaven. God was there to meet him with loving arms. The Jewish man ran into the arms of God and poured out his heart about the Holocaust. God replied, ‘I don’t know what you are talking about’, to which the Jewish man said, ‘You would if you had been there!’”

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What is so special about Gen Z? Well, nothing at all, and yet everything.

On one hand, there is nothing new about Gen Z, in the same way there is nothing new about my own three children (two of them Gen Z)…..On the other hand, Gen Z represent something very new, at least in the West.

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“I got my break – big break – when I was five years old. It has taken me more than 70 years to realize it. You see, at the age of five I learned how to read. It’s that simple. And, it’s that profound.”

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Some things are quite revealing. One of those things is social commentary. It is absolutely fascinating. Even more charming are the canvases where commentary is displayed specifically during isolation. Chalked on sidewalks and fences, suspended out of bedroom windows on large white sheets, painted on signs, and populating all the online social platforms.

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The classic list of sins as we have come to know them today are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. They were deemed as deadly simply because they were viewed as an excess of good things.

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It is an effort to localize language to what is actually going on by listening to the personal expressions of suffering.

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Therefore, a theology of mental health must recognize God as the Creator of human beings; and human beings continually need God to live according to His design in the world.

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So, when we compare the first table with sinful men and the second table with the resurrected Christ, it becomes obvious that Christ really is the exemplar of all men.

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There is a great deal left out of the gospel narrative concerning the first thirty years of Christ’ life.

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Jesus is still attending dinners where he is invited. Guests and hosts alike still experience him.

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I believe every culture has a pervading orphaned sub-culture. I believe the primer to perfect theology is our Father.

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 The Bible is not like any other literature. For the Christian it is the living Word of God. Its truths have endured in any culture at any time.

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Framed in theology, the world is always a culture of feculence. Jesus has overcome it.

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