Postmodern Pluralism

"Part of the problem for may Christians in our pluralistic world is that they have never seriously inhabited the 'culture' of Christianity and learned its faith language. Consequently, they do not have confidence in Christianity's gifts or their ability to verbalize them.

"A the same time, many churches, not knowing how to deal with or respond to pluralism, think they must water down their own uniqueness for the sake of welcoming the outsider. The result is a reduction of God; then their focal concern to love God (in this diminished conception) is not worthy of the outsider's adoration.

"We can offer the gifts of our faith most generously if we enter into the pluralism of the neighborhood not afraid of who we are and thereby free to receive who the other is. When we understand our faith as gift, we have no need to pressure others into accepting it. Meanwhile, we can more gladly learn from them the gifts their faiths have to offer."

-- Marva J. Dawn, Unfettered Hope: A Call to Faithful Living in an Affluent Society, page 82-83.