We had our 4+ hour drive back to Blacksburg this afternoon when the conference wrapped up. In hindsight I probably should have chanced the car sickness and just sat in the back alone to have introverted processing time. That was a full two days of information and nuggets to unpack. I'll venture to summarize at least one thing that was an underlying theme arising for me through the sessions- relevancy. (We later determined we probably could have made a few fun drinking games out of the buzzwords over the two days- contextualize and relevancy being two.)
There were a few Canadians attending the conference and I really appreciated their 'other' perspective to add to the conversation. I felt challenged to be asking the question of reality vs truth for the various cultural contexts. I think global understandings are so helpful in forming a theology that is larger than yourself. The closing speaker today provided an alternative to a track for the conversation we've been having. I think it is possible that we default to a language that is (potentially outdated and/or inaccurate) evangelical because it has become an easier explanation. It is simple to walk through an image of a great divide and a cross bridging the gap, but that goes to a message that is more advisement than news and does not sound good, but sounds angry and shameful. Todd Hunter and Bruxy Cavey both did great jobs of sharing a new 'track' of what short learning model could be in our minds as a reference so that we could not just repeat the same words each time, but that through referencing the model of what Christianity is about we can find the right words for the unique situation each time to share.
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