Holy Conversation

Matthew 22:41 – While the Pharisees were still gathered, he asked them (a question),

Jesus made his point about love being the foundation, and now it was time for a conversation about the Pharisees’ opinions and thoughts. Keep in mind the Pharisees are people who want to silence him, who want to kill him. He’s keeping them in conversation rather than dismissing them or moving on. I have to say, I’m good at dismissing people and moving on, which tells me that I might want to give this some thought.

Keeping our enemies in conversation. I’ve been reading “The Cross and the Lynching Tree” by James Cone. In the chapter on Dr. King, Cone recounts how King kept his enemies, white supremacists, in conversation despite his fears. King also preached to his colleagues and his fellow African Americans that they were t0 resist by loving their ‘white’ oppressors. That was a significant part of King’s conception of non-violence; loving those who opposed their very humanity. Continually engaging your enemies in conversation is a holy act, and such conversations become holy.

When we write others off as not worth listening to instead of engaging them in conversation, we deny a piece of their humanity. I hang out a lot at the comment section of a particular website, and I’m amazed at how many of the commenters keep newcomers in conversation long after I’ve blocked them. The commenters have limits, of course, and persistently egregious posters get banned. Yet, the commenters will engage everyone up to and even beyond the point when it’s clear that the newcomer is not posting in good faith. Why would they do this? Because we also have a lot of lurkers. It’s for their benefit that conversations are kept going. We’ve had a lot of conversations about this course of action, and many would disagree with what I’m about to say, but I’m saying it anyway. Such conversations are holy, because they acknowledge the humanity behind the words on the screen.

I think Dr. King had the same idea. He and his colleagues were surely aware that there was very little hope of converting the white supremacists in power. They were aware of how deep racism ran in their enemies. Yet, they kept them in holy conversation as much as possible not only because there’s always a chance that they could change their enemies’ minds (nothing is impossible with God), but also for the benefit of the ‘lurkers.’ With television, it was easy to reach many people who could be persuaded of the justice of Dr. King’s cause by seeing the brutality of the white supremacist response contrasted with the composure of African Americans and their allies. The integrity of the latter group was a powerful moral witness against the ‘white’ people who opposed them.

Keeping people in conversation is one way to love our enemies. Who do I need to engage in holy conversation?