As most of you know, I’m still processing all that I heard at Q last week. If you missed them, you can find my Q posts further down in April. Q is an amazing conference in that it brings together people from all backgrounds, cultures and persuasions. As my husband David said several times, during the course of Q he wanted to stand up and cheer for the person on stage and at other times he wanted to stand up and throw something. That has become the definition of a worthwhile conversation to us. Why in the world would you want to pay good money to go to a conference where everyone thinks exactly the same way you do? Not a problem at Q: you name it, you can find it.

That kind of openness to dialogue, however, can lead to an opposite reaction than intended. We have the desire, ability and even responsibility to discuss what we are hearing and evaluate it. The conversations started this way are valuable. But we can’t cross the line into the territory where we are cutting down another follower of Christ simply because we don’t agree with him, or maligning the motives of a teacher or pastor simply because he seems wrong to us. We need to develop the conversation based on a mutual understanding that we all want to know God truer and deeper because of our association with each other.

I read a blog by one of my favorite preachers that captures this thought best for me. Take a few minutes to click over to Stephen Furtick’s blog. He is the lead pastor of Elevation church. Read this post, and then resolve with me that we will be humbled by the others around us who are striving to put their faith into action.