Conversations are basic to human relationships. While they vary in depth they all enable us to understand and connect with one another. We are made by God to love him and to love one another, and so it is not surprising that something as basic to relationships should have substantial theological underpinnings. Here we will consider together how God must shape our view of ourselves, others and truth as we engage with our neighbour.
How do I see myself?
First, it is worthwhile to think about how we view ourselves, particularly when we disagree with others. Although many of us would assent to original sin and the effect of sin on our lives after our conversion, we do not often apply this thinking to our minds. We rest in our belief that we can think clearly and objectively. If we acknowledge a bias, it is one we are sure we can fully understand and calibrate. Yet, Scripture teaches that we are altered by sin in all of who we are[1]. (Romans 3:23) It also demonstrates that the effects of the Fall continue after conversion affecting even our capacity to think[2]. (Romans 12:1-2) In short, we are all wrong and we do not know how or when or even why.
How do I see my neighbour?[3]
Second, we all fall short of God’s glory and Scripture specifically links to this to unwillingness to love our neighbour properly. (1 John 3:8-10) In order to reform our thinking on this, Calvin helpfully points us to understanding the debt of all we owe to all people through the lens of recognising the image of God in another.[4] (Romans 13:8ff) This equips us well to examine our hearts as we strive to love as followers of Jesus Christ. We aim to repent of any tendency towards determining our neighbour as beneath us, whether this arises from a difference in ethnicity, class, living arrangements, politics or anything else. Even where our neighbour disdains or sins against us, we are to ‘…remember not to consider people’s evil intention but to look upon the image of God in them…’[5] The fear of a God to whom we know ourselves to be accountable for our attitudes and actions towards his human creatures shapes and deepens our determination to love them well. Further, we have the startling example of the Lord Jesus, whose love for us was so strong that he remained with us, even ultimately dying for our sins despite knowing the depths of our unfaithfulness. (John 2:24-25) We of all people know what it is to need love, and the example of Jesus demonstrates the shape of love of the ‘stranger’[6] whom he commands us to recognise as our neighbour. (Luke 10:25-37) This difficult, supernatural attitude is cultivated within our naturally selfish hearts by his own powerful Spirit.
How do I see truth?
Most Christians have affirmed or reaffirmed their commitment to truth as postmodernism has unravelled objectivity across the Western world, eviscerating entire disciplines in its wake. This sense of truth being real and objective provides an existentially difficult moment for Christians in conversations with those with whom we disagree. We do not accept that truth is malleable to the extent that it can contradict: unicorns either exist or they do not. More troubling for Christians is our certainty that truth pertains to more significant matters than the non-existence of mythical creatures. We maintain that morality is objectively true, communicated and underwritten by Almighty God.[7](Ephesians 4:17-24) So, we can experience dissonance as we talk with someone who believes that all morality is arbitrary and must be decided by context alone. This is often particularly sharp if we have a sense of the personal cost to human flourishing in how this seemingly random morality is being applied to powerless people.
While some experiences are subjective and may be understood as personal ‘truth’, Christians are committed to propositional truth, external to ourselves and arising out of knowledge of God. If the resurrection were able to be disproven historically, we would discard our faith in the Lord Jesus as a nonsense and our behaviour would demonstrate this. (1 Corinthians 15:13-14, 32) As Christians we believe truth to exist, and by virtue of its objective nature, we understand our relationship with truth to be one of submission to this external reality, graciously given to us in Christ. (John 14:6)
Further, truth humbles us. In view of our weakness as sinners and our finitude as creatures, we can claim neither comprehensive grasp of truth, nor unfaltering understanding of it. Instead, we look to Jesus. He gives truth clearly in Scripture, but is not limited to normal avenues. He may use unusual means: a donkey’s pertinent questions begin to reveal truth to a prophet; a wicked high priest Caiaphas, proclaims the true reason for Jesus’ death. (Numbers 22:28-30; John 11:49-52) This forms the Christian’s view of herself: as a learner of truth, submitting to it out of reverence for Christ. We stand under truth as those who submit to the Lord who owns truth as he owns our very selves.
We believe that there is truth, that it can be known and that we do not own it: Jesus will and does give it to whom he will. We are committed to what we know, yet open to this being informed and reshaped in ways we might not expect.
What is a conversation?
These reflections entwine to enable us to think well about how we might best have substantial conversations through which we might learn to love and honour our neighbour as a fellow image bearer. Knowing God’s truth is an immeasurable gift, but it does not put us in the place of God. Instead, as we learn to love our neighbour, brought into our lives by a sovereign God and engage in conversations with him, we are not threatened by his beliefs. Our commitment to objective truth gives us stability and clarity, but our knowledge of ourselves as sinful and limited enables us to engage with those beliefs humbly. Instead of choosing the easy path of tribal alliances, we discipline ourselves to love and to open ourselves to this different person as a neighbour to whom we owe a debt of love.[8]We do this out of obedience to Jesus himself.
These categories diminish or even destroy the increasingly normal practice in our world to ‘win’ conversations because they genuinely humanise both ourselves and our neighbour. It is the kind of work we expect our good God to be doing in and through our lives. Yet, how might this look and sound different to a conversation on Q&A for example? What kinds of practical conclusions might we make out of these global categories? Specifically, how will this shape how we listen to those with whom we disagree? These issues will concern us in our next article.
Questions
- In what ways does God’s own Spirit transform our minds and hearts as we read Scripture? In what practical ways might we better co-operate with him in this?
- How has sin affected you? Which areas of your life that are affected by sin that you haven’t thought about much? What difference does it make that Jesus has died for you and you are being transformed into his image by his Spirit?
- Read Luke 10:25-37. How does Jesus’ parable help us understand more about love? Who are the strangers in your life that you struggle to recognise as your neighbour? How would you like to pray about that?
- How does John 14:6 help us to be both confident in truth and humbly submissive to it at the same time? What difference does it make that Jesus himself is truth?
[1] Westminster Confession of Faith VI and The-Gospel-Gender-Sexuality-Full-Paper.pdf (gist.org.au) p. 12-19
[2] Westminster Confession of Faith VI.v, IX.iv and The-Gospel-Gender-Sexuality-Full-Paper.pdf (gist.org.au) p. 12-13
[3] This article is indebted to Dr Carolyn Russell for her time and expertise and part of this section arises out of a conversation on 13thMarch, 2023.
[4] The Golden Book of the Christian Life Book 3, Chapter 7 in John Calvin: Writings on Pastoral Piety in series The Classics of Western Spirituality Ed. and Trans. Elsie Anne McKee (Paulist Press: New York, 2001)
[5] Ibid., 7.6, page 276
[6] Conversation with Dr Russell, 13/3/2023
[7] Westminster Confession of Faith I.iv-v
[8] Conversation with Dr Russell, 13/3/2023