On Chrisitan Unity and Non-Denominational Dialogue

On the ride home from work yesterday I encountered a woman who was incredibly enthusiastic about her non-denominational, somewhat Pentecostal, always evangelical church out in Queens. I really liked talking with her and getting a sense of why she loved her church so much.

While she used a lot of fundametalist jargon that I have yet to add to my vocabulary (I believe the word "anointed" came up at least five times within the span of a 10 minute bus trip), we found some common ground - at least in our enthusiasm for church.

I discovered that she's a big fan of Joyce Myers and really loves Joel Osteen. Surprisingly enough, I had just been reading this week's Christian Century which featured Osteen prominently on its cover. Having already read the article, I gladly ripped it out and gave it to her. She's going to burn some copies of her pastor's "anointed preaching" onto a CD and drop off in my mailbox this week.

This was just the kind of conversation that makes my day. The two of us had very little in common in terms of how we worshiped or the kinds of words we used to speak of our faith, but yet we had enough of a common bond in Christ to really enjoy talking with one another. And if the bond with Christ wasn't enough to completely seal the deal, we shared that special bond with Joel. I got to give up the article (which, by the way, offers a great critique of his prosperity gospel), and she was so excited to read it. NYC recycling at work!