The Jesus Creed Blog is committed to the word “conversation” as what we want to happen daily at this site. Long ago Peggy Brown wrote up a post called the parable of the Jesus Creed, and it was about how to behave in the comments, and I think she captured the subject of this post.

Instead of writing a parable, though, I’ll write some straight prose. My prose is about words, and these words make clear what we want to happen here.

First, the word conversation: imagine yourself at a cafe with me and RJS and Michael Kruse and David Opderbeck, not to mention so many others and I better quit now or I’ll list too many and start wondering names I have forgotten and shouldn’t have. One of us starts up a conversation, asks a good question or two, and then everyone else speaks up for what they think.

But the cafe is an important word here. We are not in a debate hall (where polemics rule). We are not in a lecture hall (where long-windedness can be found). We are not behind a church podium (where evangelism or authoritative sermons are heard). We are at a cafe. Others are around. We are in a conversation over coffee. We are talking about important subjects but no one raises the voice; no one starts lecturing. We have to respect that others are around and we have to keep our voices down.

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