Interfaith dialogue

By Tyler Tankersley

I grew up in Southeast Missouri and proudly graduated from Jackson High School. Our area of the country is full of heart, commitment and grace. However, there is one thing that I did not experience much of during my childhood: diversity. The only real diversity I can remember from my upbringing was between Protestants and Catholics.

When I left Southeast Missouri to attend seminary and work in a large church in an urban area, I was exposed to people of other backgrounds on a near daily basis. If I am being perfectly honest, at first it was intimidating. In the back of my mind I wondered if all of the stereotypes I had always held were going to be proven true. But not a single one of them was; all of my previously held stereotypes were proven to be products of ignorance rather than being based on real-life people. Instead, I found most people were just trying to figure out how to live a good life, be a good neighbor, and love God. I am so grateful for those paradigm-shifting experiences.

I think I also held an implicit fear that exposure to other faith traditions would somehow lead to a depreciation of my own faith journey. The opposite proved true; I found myself falling more in love with my own tradition and more in love with Jesus Christ.

On Friday, I am honored to be participating in an interfaith dinner at Christ Episcopal Church in Cape Girardeau. This will be an opportunity for people of varying backgrounds and faiths to come together to share a meal and learn more about one another. The interests in this event have shown me Southeast Missouri is an increasingly diverse area and I need to do a better job of knowing and loving my neighbors. Those of us who are organizing this event hope that it can serve as a catalyst for future events and missionary endeavors that people of all faith can partner on.

As a Christian, I take seriously the words of Jesus when he was asked once, "Which is the greatest commandment?" He followed with: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."

This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40). When Jesus speaks of "love" here, he is not merely talking about a warm feeling in your chest for another person. He is talking about being in an active relationship with them.

Friends, it's time for us to start loving our neighbors. And in order to do that, we have to know them. So, I encourage you to reach out to someone who is of a different faith, ethnic or cultural background. Invite them to a cup of coffee and share some conversation. If we do that, I think we will find that we will learn more about one another, more about God, and more about ourselves.