{"id":37406,"date":"2024-04-11T15:56:35","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T22:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=37406"},"modified":"2024-04-11T16:01:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T23:01:40","slug":"sincerely-engaging-with-those-who-are-far-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/sincerely-engaging-with-those-who-are-far-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Sincerely Engaging With Those Who Are Far Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matthew Petrusek’s Evangelization and Ideology<\/em> is an invitation for the Church to re-enter the sociopolitical arena with the saving message of the Gospel. Petrusek writes, “The Church has a unique opening to re-enter the sociopolitical fray, re-engage the secular mind, and call the culture back to Christ\u2014provided we can effectively understand and respond to the contemporary ideological battlefield.”[1] An effective response to the current hyper-politicized climate demands communication and dialogue, and Petrusek argues the Church must position itself to facilitate conversation rather than detract from it. He provides practical advice for Christians who seek to build bridges. The remainder of this post will focus on three of Petrusek’s recommendations: employ the Socratic method to engage in debate, be disposed to learn something new, and be a happy warrior. [2]<\/p>\n

The Socratic method to engage in debate.<\/strong> Petrusek writes, “The Socratic method entails asking sincere questions and looking for sincere answers with the goal of attaining both definitional and logical clarity.” In addition, concerning the Socratic method, Paul and Elder write, “The key to distinguishing Socratic questioning from questioning per se is that Socratic questioning is systematic, disciplined, and deep, and usually focuses on foundational concepts, principles, theories, issues, or problems.”[3] The Socratic method is meant to cultivate deep learning, not just gain information. Furthermore, it requires a position of humility and care for the individual in which we are interacting with. Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Unfortunately, I have witnessed in religious debates that insincere questions are used to trap the person with opposing views, especially if the questioner is more knowledgeable about a specific subject. The key to the Socratic method is sincerity and the desire to cultivate deep learning.<\/p>\n

Be disposed to learning something new.<\/strong> Harford states, “There’s a sweet spot for curiosity: if we know nothing, we ask no questions; if we know everything, we ask no questions either. Curiosity is fueled once we know enough to know that we do not know.”[5] Furthermore, Schulz writes, “Knowing what we don’t know is the beginning.”[6] Concerning learning something new, Petrusek encourages interacting with people with other life experiences. For example, if an individual has a strong view of crime, talking with someone who has been incarcerated is beneficial. Petrusek writes, “By talking with each other, by learning from each other, we can stop imagining and\u2014to a limited but still profoundly morally relevant degree\u2014start knowing.” [7] Being disposed to learning something new sounds straightforward. However, it also requires a humble posture and sincerity. James 3:17, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”<\/p>\n

Be a happy warrior.<\/strong> Petrusek states, “If you believe Jesus is Lord, there is no sitting this one out. It’s a fight. And we’re all in it, all the time.” [8] 2 Timothy 2:3, “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Considering the current hyper-politicized climate, it can become easy for Christians to lose their joy. It can seem like a losing battle. I can easily feel this way in North Africa, where the conversation differs from the West’s. However, Jesus tells his disciples in John 16:33b, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” I often remind myself when entering conversations, especially when concerning religion, that regardless of the outcome, my joy does not come from changing someone’s worldview. My happiness comes from doing what God has called me to do.<\/p>\n

Petrusek does not shy away from the fact that we live in a broken, sin-filled world. Despite our best efforts, we cannot create a perfect world without sin. However, we can live in hope as we fight for greater justice and philosophical and evangelical progress. Petrusek affirms that apart from Christ, all political ideologies will one day decay and crumble. He writes, “Either our politics is grounded in and oriented to God as our true good and true source of happiness, or it is grounded in and oriented to something other than God, which is tantamount to grounding it in an idol.”[9] Acts 17:29-30, “Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” Petrusek encourages the Church to enter the sociopolitical arena and to engage people with the saving message of the Gospel. The Church cannot fix the brokenness of our world with more human effort, but we can sincerely engage with those who are far off so that they may feel their way toward Christ and find him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] Matthew Petrusek, Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture,<\/em> (Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire Institute, 2023), 8, Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[2] Matthew Petrusek, Evangelization and Ideology, <\/em>(Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire Institute, 2023), 465-474, Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[3] Richard Paul and Linda Elder, The Thinker’s Guide to Socratic Questioning<\/em>, (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2019), 4, Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[4] Matthew Petrusek, Evangelization and Ideology, <\/em>(Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire Institute, 2023), 466, Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[5] Tim Harford, The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics<\/em>, (Riverhead, UK: Penguin Random House, 2020), 273,\u00a0 Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[6] Kathryn Schulz, Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, <\/em>(HarperCollins, 2010), 85, Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[7] Matthew Petrusek, Evangelization and Ideology, <\/em>(Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire Institute, 2023), 470, Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[8] Ibid, 470.<\/p>\n

[9] Matthew Petrusek, Evangelization and Ideology, <\/em>(Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire Institute, 2023), 464, Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew Petrusek’s Evangelization and Ideology is an invitation for the Church to re-enter the sociopolitical arena with the saving message of the Gospel. Petrusek writes, “The Church has a unique opening to re-enter the sociopolitical fray, re-engage the secular mind, and call the culture back to Christ\u2014provided we can effectively understand and respond to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2997,2967],"class_list":["post-37406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-petrusek","tag-dlgp03","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37406"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37408,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37406\/revisions\/37408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}