The conversations we refuse to have…

There are conversations we aren’t having in the US that we should have.

There are conversations we aren’t having in our churches that we should really be having.

But the reality is that we generally won’t have these conversations for multiple reasons. One reason is because they are difficult conversations. Another reason is because we don’t know where to start, or how to listen — to often we are jumping to how we are going to answer something because just raising the question feels like an attack on us. And another reason is because we just aren’t even aware that there is an issue — so why talk about something that doesn’t directly affect us. Lastly, I think we don’t talk about difficult conversations because we are afraid of how the conversations may require us to change.

So what are these conversations that we should be having, but refuse to participate in?

One of the conversations would be around race. I’m part of the whitest denomination in America — the ELCA. We’re just starting to tap into this, but not throughout the entire church.

Here’s another — money. Want to really understand how protective people are around issue of money — just ask people to pull out their cash or credit cards and hold them up for people to see and tell people that you want to have a conversation around money in church. Good luck.

Here’s another — civic religion. How does society expect the church to behave and what do we expect our…