by Carter Brown
When I was at Bible college, theological debates were a common pastime for many of my peers. As I observed this exercise, it almost always took the same form – heated words and condescending tones.
I decided that I wasn’t interested in theological discussions and avoided them outside of the classroom for the next few years. As I neared the end of my time in school, I encountered a different type of theological debate. It involved charitable speech and honest questions and gentle but firm pushback – both given and received graciously. It was a delight to see and was so edifying. It was also so educational. I learned so much from that type of discussion.
I felt robbed.
“You’re telling me I could have been engaging in discussions like this for the last 4 years and sharpening my theology? Instead, I’v been avoiding these conversations because of what I thought they were!”
Perhaps you resonate. Even if you haven’t been to Bible college. The stereotype of theological debate is not a good one. Many Christians feel they have no place in such a discussion and so avoid it all together. But these same Christians want to grow in their understanding of God and theology, especially as they seek to teach and disciple their children in the faith.
Our world is a crazy place. We are bombarded on every side by one issue after another that we have to dissect and evaluate with discernment as we choose how we’re going to interact with it – and how we’re going to talk to our kids about it.
We want to learn and to be informed, but the fear of a debate often silences our questions before we ask them. Instead, we stumble along with the best information we can dig up on the internet.
In response to this, I want to share a resource that I’ve found very helpful. “Good Faith Debates” is a series produced by The Gospel Coalition. Each installment features two Christian leaders who agree on the teachings of the Gospel, but disagree on some social issue. They take turns sharing their position and then come together to discuss it. The result is not only an incredibly informative video on the featured topic, but also a living example of how to disagree with charity.
The Gospel Coalition explains the goal of the series this way:
“When we keep the gospel central, we can disagree on lesser but still important matters in good faith. In the Good Faith Debates, we hope to model this—showing that it’s possible for two Christians united around the gospel to engage in charitable conversation even amid substantive disagreement.”
If you’re wanting to hear some informed and insightful thinking on some of the major topics in our society today, or if you just want to see how two Christians can engaged in a productive discussion around divisive topics, check out the Good Faith Debates here.