Sunday, July 5, 2009

Dialogue

Tim who I spoke to at Ranges this morning was discussing the idea of good dialogue with people. In the process he handed me a page on 'What is Dialogue' from the center of dialogue at La Trobe University'. The Centre for Dialogue follows six pilosophical and practical touchstones they are::

::the key to dialogue is not merely to recognize diversity, but to engage with the other in a common journey

::in dialogue must be approached with humility — no one has a monopoly on wisdom or truth;

::in dialogue we place equal emphasis on speaking and listening;

::in dialogue, participants hold up their own cultures and traditions to critical scrutiny;

::the dialogical method nurtures and is nurtured by empathy and compassion through telling and listening to each other's stories

::in dialogue we discover ourselves through discovering the other.

What interests me is the how as Christians we often come to discussion without adhering to any of the above. I think if we really took evangelism and mission seriously these points would make a huge difference.

1 comment:

steven hamilton said...

what strikes me about this list is if you took away "dialogue" and replaced it with "spiritual direction/spiritual companionship", it would be just as correct. amazing.