Cultivating Transformative Practice

Practices can absorb and transform what suffering and evil have impacted people. Not only are they practical responses that help and enable people to be sustained in their faith, they also reflect “the gestures of God in the face of evil” (Swinton 2007, 72). Practices alone aren’t the solutions to the problem in and of itself. However, through faith, practices put us and move us to action. Moreover, they will help raise our consciousness in addressing, wrestling, and learning those very pains by reframing traditional theodicies. Amid all the practices, we must discern which ones are most faithful and consistent with a compassionate Christology for our ministry context. Well-informed practices can articulate a more compassionate Christology that are faithful and consistent with Christ (Mouw 2003, 9).

John Swinton uses Martin Buber’s interpretation of evil to explain how easy or inattentive one needs to stumble into evil (Swinton 2007, 181). “To move towards evil requires no formal work, only inattention to the good” (Swinton 2007, 181). In other words, to not be distracted to do good, we must be intentional about cultivating practices. What do these “gestures of redemption” look like in the context of friendship? How will they help us gain competencies as we wrestle with life’s struggles and unanswered questions? I’ll be sharing different Christ-shaped and cross-framed practices of friendship that will help us become ready to seek the power and goodness of God over the problem of suffering and evil.

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Mouw, Richard J. and Douglas Sweeney. 2013. The Suffering and Victorious Christ: Toward a More Compassionate Christology. Baker Academic. Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Swinton, John. 2007. Raging with Compassion: Pastoral Responses to the Problem of Evil. Eerdmans. Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Ashley WongComment