We are pleased to have Paul Hoffman on our podcast this episode. We had a great conversation with Paul about his book and about how Christians can navigate divisions.
NOTES:
Paul is the pastor of Evangelical Friends Church of Newport (RI) and the author of Preaching to a Divided Nation and Reconciling Places, How to Bridge the Chasms in our Communities.
We mentioned several other books in the podcast:
- Generous Justice by Timothy Keller
- Uncivil Agreement by Lilliana Mason
- The Big Sort by Bill Bishop
Paul also mentioned a couple authors that he felt were of interest:
RECAP & TAKEAWAYS:
The Seven Steps of Preaching to a Divided Nation are these:
- The Theological Step: The Sins of Pride and Prejudice
- The Contextual Step: America’s Past and Present Reality
- The Personal Step: Facing Our Sin and Acknowledging Our Prejudices
- The Positional Step: We Are Heralds, Not Heart-Changers
- The Methodological Step: A Homiletic for Reconciliation and Unity
- The Practical Step: Pre-Sermon, Mid-Sermon, and Post-Sermon Practices
- The Categorical Step: Biblical Themes and Texts
Paul appreciated levels of justice that came from the Generous Justice book mentioned above:
- Relief
- Development
- Social Reform
Paul offered several suggestions for ways we can make a difference and begin now. Here they are:
- Pray. (1 Timothy 2:1-2) There has always been one king who can do something about the political situation.
- Take a relational inventory. Who are your friends? Do they all look like you?
- Start local. What is happening in your neighborhood, city, and state?
- Look for ways to be involved in reconciliation across ethnic, denominational, and political lines.
GET IN TOUCH:
We’d love to hear from you. Please send us an email or question at [email protected].
MUSIC:
Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing
Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Comfort_Fit/Forget_And_Remember/03_Sorry