One of the thing that unites humans at their best—whether religious or not—is that we are all committed to recognizing and affirming truth wherever we find it. That is why a truly reasonable atheist is willing to learn from a Christian. They recognize that while we may get a great many things wrong, at least occasionally we get some things right, and at least some of those things are pretty darn important.
But it is also why (in my opinion) a truly christian Christian is willing to learn from people who believe very differently than we do, or who may not “believe” at all. To my mind, there is no better example of this than Jesus. He saw truth in nature, agriculture, the events of the day, the economy, even in the practices of the nation of Rome (upon hearing a high-level Roman soldier describe the concept of authority, Jesus exclaims, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel. the very people who are supposed to know about God and how he works.”) I think one of the things that drew people to Jesus was that he was a master at seeing God’s truth all around him.
And that is why, though it may puzzle some, we are incorporating the music of David Bowie into our 9:30 service this Sunday morning. It is not gimmick or glitz or an attempt to entertain. It is, quite frankly, that we believe that he has some important things to say—things that, whether intended or not, can help us be better Christians. And certainly help us be better human beings.
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