Bruce Reyes-Chow is a consultant who served as founding pastor of Mission Bay Community Church, until May of this year, and was the former moderator of the General Assembly of the 2.3 million member PCUSA. On the conservative Red Letter Christians blog he recently shared “An Open Letter to Frustrated Christians in the United States,” featuring these words:
Like many of you from across the theological and political spectrum, I am disturbed by the religious rhetoric that is defining Christianity in the United States today: one that employs inflammatory rhetoric over civil discourse, favors easy-answers over nuanced thought and seeks political victory over the common good. This is not the Christianity that I live. I believe that faithful Christians – from “liberal” to “conservative” – can vigorously disagree on significant social and political issues like abortion, marriage equality, health care, etc. without tearing down the dignity of the other, giving up the complexities of faith or inflicting pain upon another member of the Body of Christ.
So What?
Reyes-Chow seeks to ensure that Christianity is not defined in negative terms nor by those outside the faith. Toward this end he invites conservative and progressive; Democrat, Republican and Independent; denominationally affiliated and nondenominational Christians to sign a petition that proclaims “there is more than one version of Christianity in the United States.”
Will you add your name to the petition? Why or why not?