What's the point?

Jesse and I had a discussion over the weekend about what exactly we're trying to accomplish with this blog. Is our purpose to convince people to see things our way? Are we trying to generate change of some sort? Or start a conversation? Is this simply a way to consider own ideas and beliefs?

To me, this blog is an outward expression of what's been going on in my head and heart over the past few years--a way to make the internal dialogue public, and work through my own questions, confusions, and ideas in a format that has the potential to include others.

I have a lot of questions about the church, politics, and the church's role in politics, which are the main topics we're planning to cover here.

What is church supposed to look like? Is the American church today a good representation of what God wants the church to be? What are we doing well? Where can we improve? What do the teachings of Jesus look like in a practical way? What should our priorities be, morally and socially? What does God have to say on the moral and ethical issues of our time? Where is the line between building or maintaining a moral society and inappropriately demanding and legislating Christian morality for non-Christians?

What is a Christian's role in government and politics? When faced with choices between candidates and political parties, none of which fully represent Christian morality, how do we decide which issues should be the deciding factors? Is it better for a Christian to remain independent, rather than declaring allegiance to one imperfect political party or another? Or is it better to get involved in a party, in order to have a greater voice in the development of platforms and positions? When no perfect choice is available, is choosing “the lesser of two evils” appropriate?

These are just a few of the questions swirling around in my head, and I intend to explore them more fully in the coming months and years. For me, this blog is a way for me to consider my questions and explore answers in a format that allows for feedback. I know there are others considering these issues, and coming to various conclusions, and ideally, I'd like this blog to become a place of active dialogue, a place where people, especially people of faith, can consider how God, faith, morality, compassion, ethics and government can and should coincide.