How to have a good conversation about ideas.

My youngest daughter Laura has never had a filter on her conversations.  I am sure she got that from her father.

I remember well one day, when she was about 5 years old, a close friend of mine came by the house for a visit.  He was a hawkish looking man with skinny legs, a large chest, and an equally long nose that hooked across his upper lip. His broad yet thin-lipped grin was welcome enough and gave evidence to a peace with himself.  Yet, his deep black eyes closely set above his boney long nose always made me think he was out for a hunt.  At times, he could tear into a topic with ferociousness.  Our conversations were always filled with wisdom, truth-seeking, sarcasm, and laughter.

Laura sat on the couch next to him and observed my friend for about 10 minutes as we talked about the issues of the week.  Her observation soon became a stare and then she blurted out,

“Why is your nose so long?” Continue reading →

Look at this picture, below.  This ancient house (in the background)  in Bir Zeit [pronouce: beer zite] sits in disrepair, as do many of the houses in ancient Palestine.  I took the picture on a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories in 2008.  Bir Zeit is very close to Bethlehem where Jesus of Nazareth was born.  Notice that there are 3 floors.  The third floor is enclosed on top.  This is very much like the house Jesus of Nazareth was born in.  Christmas is in celebration of this event.

If you remember the story, there was no place for Mary to have her baby and so she and Joseph (her husband) stopped at a local inn or house and asked for a place to stay for the night.  As you can see this is not like the Holiday Inn you see on the Interstate.  It was very basic with no running water, electricity or indoor toilets.  I don’t even think they had a microwave. 🙂 Continue reading →

Written with the help of Sarah Rohrer, former BuildaBridge Intern and Staff, for publication

Leah leaned across my dining room table and asked with skepticism, “Can anyone make a difference in a week?” It was not really a question but a statement and one I hear frequently from discerning people.  I take it seriously.  A professional muralist, Leah had spent a week working with gang members in prison, other weeks creating community murals with scores of kids in informal settlements in Kenya and Guatemala, and even a three-month stint restoring historic and community places in a hurricane ravaged Caribbean Island, all at her own expense.  She was questioning the impact of a short-term artist’s engagement in communities of poverty, crisis and catastrophe.  She has both a right and responsibility to ask.  What can an artist possibly do in a week that is effective, supports the local mission and leads toward the holistic transformation of both individuals and communities?  The answer lies in a number of factors including what skills the artist (any art form) brings, the role the artist plays, the relationship the artist has with the local organization or community, and what the artist leaves behind. Continue reading →

We as Christians must recognize that there is much to learn from those who do not call themselves Christians but who have the gifting and desire to do good in the world. To dismiss their work because they are not in the ‘fold’ is to dismiss the common grace of God and God’s ability to use those outside our boundaries to accomplish God’s work in the world. [Corbitt: Taking it to the Streets p.228]

I have lived through the last half of the 20th century and into the 21st century. During this time, I have been a faculty member of a Christian university for nearly 20 years. As a global citizen who has traveled to over 50 countries and a resident in an urban community, the past decade has given me pause to reflect on the meaning of being “Christian” and the tensions of having faith while living in a diverse world. It is a place I call the Muddled Middle. What does this mean? How did I get there? How do I now live? How does it inform my teaching? This short essay will attempt to answer these questions.

New York Tomes Square.  J. Nathan Corbitt (2011)

The Muddled Middle

The muddled middle is simply the civic context of life–particularly the urban context. It is the borderland of mingled cultures. It is marketplace, public town square, city center and place of business where no one person may have dominance and each person, ethnicity, class, religion, gender or preference must negotiate their difference and seek the benefit of all in order to find a common good life; where neither the sacred nor the profane dominate, but both have the opportunity to intermingle and influence. It can be a challenging, confrontational and uncomfortable place, especially for a former Southern Baptist from the mountains of North Carolina.

How I Got Here

Growing up as a Southern Baptist preacher’s son in the southern United States afforded me an overconfidence, even arrogance, in all things Christian. I remain very grateful for the Southern Baptist emphasis on education between 1950 and 1980. The funding they provided both to schools and to the students who attended them left many of us with an excellent education and no debt. I repeat that last one–NO DEBT. Thank you very much, sincerely. Continue reading →