Loving Visibly-Notes on Mesa's "For Our City" Inaugural Breakfast!

Dr. Gary Kinnaman has written many books. He picked a most relevant thought from one of them yesterday, when speaking at the launch of “For Our City-Mesa.”

“I wrote a book a few years ago entitled, ‘Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe,” he said. “We believe our knowledge of God is more important than how we treat others.” He then told about how as Senior Pastor of a large, charismatic church, he began volunteering at a food bank to connect more directly with needy people in his community.

Whether it is to connect with community, or to make a difference in their home town, the 100 other leaders in attendance agreed with Dr. Kinnaman’s point. They had come together for the first “For Our City-Mesa” breakfast, to explore how they could make a greater difference together.

“For Our City-Mesa” is a collaboration of leaders from education, business, government, and the faith communities. The core strength of the collaboration lies in shared values. “So often,” Dr. Kinnaman, said, ”Individual beliefs and political points of view divide people who agree about most other things.” 

I agreed and remembered when, as a boy, I would ride my bike on the berms in the fields. On irrigation days, the ditch on one side would flow with water and flood the furrows on the other side. It took balance to steer between the two watery hazards. I don’t have to steer to stay dry these days. I do have to balance between opinions that threaten relationships.

Recently, I reconnected with an old friend from my school-teaching days. Over the last thirty years, I’ve moved right and found defining purpose in Jesus Christ. I’m Christian by faith and world view and conservative by political persuasion. My friend is firmly agnostic and very liberal. We are glad to be connected again, but it is hard to stay focused on our common experience and interests. The things we don’t agree on are so sensational and so frequently stirred up by the news media. By the way, do you remember when watching the news made you more informed instead of just more opinionated?

Jon McHatton, Care Inc. founder and developer of “For Our City,” said that the challenge for Tom Moffett as Director of “For Our City-Mesa” is to make sure “For Our City-Mesa” does not become political or religious. When Jon said this, we all laughed. We all knew that maintaining balance is challenging. It’s easy to lose focus on shared purpose and look instead to what we hold as eternally true and politically enlightened. The more we look at our differences, the sharper the corners of our opinions become. Relationships can be severed when we stop considering the common ground and values we share. It’s work that my friend and I are trying to get right.

My friend is very impressed with the Mayor of Newark, the Honorable Cory Booker. Mayor Booker is a democrat, and likely future candidate for the White House. I would be surprised to find very much to agree with him on politically. But I do agree with him when he says, "Don’t speak to me about your religion; first show it to me in how you treat other people. Don't tell me how much you love your God; show me in how much you love all his children. Don't preach to me your passion for your faith; teach me through your compassion for your neighbors. In the end, I'm not as interested in what you have to tell or sell as I am in how you choose to live and give." I read the same sentiment in James’ epistle. By the way, Mayor Booker is a Christian. You can see more about his personal expression of faith here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POukiHs9fdA&feature=player_detailpage

Einstein once said. “Only a life lived for others is worth living.” Dr. Kinnaman, 100 other Mesa leaders, Jesus, Mohamed, Buddha and Yahweh would agree.

Jim McHatton, International Director