ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE READING

“In public discourse, the challenge is not to stifle robust debate, but rather to make sure that it is real debate. The first obligation for Christians is to listen carefully to opponents and if they are not willing to do so, then Christians should simply be silent. To engage in a war of words is to engage in a symbolic violence that is fundamentally at odds with the gospel. And too often, on such hot button issues as poverty, abortion, race relations, and homosexuality, the poor, children, minorities, and gays are used as weapons in ideological warfare. This too is an expression of instrumentalization.” --James Hunter, To Change the World

“Civility requires that we reduce the psychological distance between ourselves and others. We need to develop a sense of commonality with people who initially strike us as very different from ourselves. One important means of doing this is by cultivating empathy.” --Richard Mouw, Uncommon Decency

2.  How does one grow in gentleness?

3.  What are some ways Christians can show “gentleness and respect” to those who have opinions and perspectives that are contrary to our faith convictions?

Uncommon Decency, Richard Mouw

Faithful Presence, David Fitch

To Change the World, James Hunter

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE READING

“It is because the meaning of life in the United States is the pursuit of pleasure and personal freedom, that suffering is so traumatic for Americans.”    -Dr. Paul Bland, The Gift of Pain

“I suggest to you that it is because God loves us that he gives us the gift of suffering. Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world. You see, we are like blocks of stone out of which the Sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of his chisel, which hurt us so much are what makes us perfect.”  CS Lewis

“Christianity teaches that, contra fatalism, suffering is overwhelming; contra Buddhism, suffering is real; contra karma, suffering is often unfair; but contra secularism, suffering is meaningful. There is a purpose to it, and if faced rightly, it can drive us like a nail deep into the love of God and into more stability and spiritual power that you can imagine.”  –Tim Keller

2.  How do you think living in America has affected your thoughts about what you “deserve,” and the desire to avoid suffering? Talk about the difference between inconvenience and annoyance and true suffering or persecution?

3.  Has suffering been instrument in your path toward Christlikeness? How or how not? Do you agree with the statement, “You don’t really know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have”? Explain.

4.  How can suffering provide an opportunity for us to participate in Jesus’ own story? Have you experienced this?

5.  How might the church, your small group, and you as an individual better serve those who are suffering?

6.  Discuss the following quote from Tim Keller and how it might affect your attitude toward suffering: “Christianity offers not merely a consolation but a restoration- not just of the life we had but of the life we always wanted but never achieved. And because the joy will be even greater for all that evil, this means the final defeat of all those forces that would have destroyed the purpose of God in creation, namely, to live with his people in glory and delight forever.”

Uncommon Decency, Richard Mouw

Faithful Presence, David Fitch

To Change the World, James Hunter

The Gift of Pain, Dr. Paul Bland & Philip Yancey

A Peculiar People, Rodney Clapp

Uncommon Decency, Richard Mouw

Faithful Presence, David Fitch

To Change the World, James Hunter

Additional Scripture Reading

(The above quote is full of provocative thoughts and the entire time together as a group would be well spent if people shared their thoughts, questions, and disagreements with what McKnight says.)

2.  How can we as Christians embody the alternative realities of peace, gentleness, and unity? As McKnight puts it, how do we as a local church “first be a witnessed reality” to Jesus’ alternative way?

3.  President Trump is a controversial leader who sparks some kind of reaction every time he tweets or talks. How do we as Christians and as a local church navigate our differences about our current president in healthy and Kingdom oriented ways?

4.  When is civil disobedience required of Christians in order to be faithful to their primary calling as Christ-followers? How is this done redemptively and in a manner consistent with the ethics of the Kingdom?

Uncommon Decency, Richard Mouw

Faithful Presence, David Fitch

To Change the World, James Hunter