Compassion and dialogue are essentially vulnerable positions. If we are into control and predictability, we will seldom descend into the weakness of listening or the scariness of dialogue. We will not only be incapable of hearing others, but will also be incapable of hearing God. How we do anything is how we do everything. If we spend all day controlling and blocking others, why would we change when we kneel to pray? Faith, frankly, demands faith—not proof, certitude, predictability, control, or the comforts of authority assuring us that we are always right. Our temptation is often to create a non-relational Christianity and non-relational leadership styles, so we can have all the bases covered by custom and statute, and don’t ever have to enter into the scandal of particularity. Prayer, perhaps more than anything, is the school of relationship and particularity. We should be the experts in these areas—if we are people of prayer.
