Lipscomb University in Nashville recently hosted a conference entitled “A Call to Conversation: An Invitation to Dialogue on Religious Conflict.” The purpose of the conference was to provide a vehicle of conversation among people diverse religious backgrounds in an effort to promote mutual understanding and respect. Nashville has become a very diverse place with an immigrant population speaking 60-70 different languages, and this diversity presents a challenge to the church. Lipscomb president Randy Lowry said “We could choose, I guess, not to ever talk to each other. Or we could choose to live in a safe and respectful environment, to at least know who each other is.” So the college invited Muslim, Jewish and Catholic representatives to discuss diversity.
The story probably would have ended there except for that silly first amendment thing—the freedom of the press to get things all scrambled up. (Lisa, you’re not reading this, right?) The front page headline of the Nashville paper The Tennessean said, “Christians must ‘let go’ some beliefs for sake of peace.” This was attributed to Lipscomb Bible professor Lee Camp, and there was an immediate firestorm of controversy that charged the school with compromising Christian faith distinctives in an effort to be at peace with the non-Christian world. Several participants and attendees (some non-Christian) reported that The Tennessean article was inaccurate and did not reflect Camp’s speech or the purpose of the conference. The paper is sticking by its story. You can read a much fuller account at the Christian Chronicle.
I am not surprised by any of this. I am not surprised Lipscomb would host such a dialog. Wars all over the world are fueled by religious sectarian ignorance and misunderstanding, so it makes sense to discuss ways we, despite different convictions, can better understand and live in peace locally and globally. (Randy Lowry, the new president at Lipscomb, was the founder of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine, so this kind of thing would seem to be his bailiwick).
But I can also understand how the secular press would interpret such discussions as an offer to simply drop distinctive Christian beliefs. Let’s just pretend that there’s no difference between Christians, Jews and Muslims so that we can have peace. Why can’t we all just get along? If our distinctive beliefs are causing the problem, let’s pretend they don’t matter. Jesus, Muhammad, Moses—what’s the big deal? I can understand why a newspaper guy would hear that… despite the fact that nobody was saying it!
Christians are called to be absolutely and distinctively committed to faith in Jesus Christ. That commitment to Christ also mean we are to “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Rom 12:18). Learning to understand and respect non-Christians so as to live peacefully with them does not require that I give up my faith or accept their beliefs as equally true. Unless Christians are seen as seeking the ways of peace, how can others take us seriously as living as disciples of the Prince of Peace?
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