As
you read this, the Journey of 180 is in the second phase, 60 Days of
Dialogue. In my last Blog, I explained that for the last year I have regularly
used words such as journey, paradigm,
rebirth, geopolitan, and community stakeholder. In part one, I discussed the
meanings for the particular use of the words journey, paradigm and rebirth. In
this BLOG, I will address the concept of “geopolitan” and offer some thoughts about
the importance of community stakeholders.
Geopolitan is a word and
concept of the future. I was given this word by Dr. Bob Dale, who has discussed
the meaning and implications of such a word at length with his son, Cass. Since you will not be able to find a definition of the word—not even using
Google—let me offer one. Geo- is a prefix taken from the Greek word γη or γαια meaning
“earth.” Politan- is a term taken from the Greek root word polis (pɒlɨs) or
πόλις meaning “city.” Combined the literal translation gives us the term “earth
city.” Driving through the D.C. metropolitan area, it is easy to see how this
term “earth city” or “geopolitan” could describe our unique setting, especially
since we are the home to someone from nearly every nation and culture in the
world. While our geographic location defines us as the nation’s capital, we
also know that our region is where the world comes to meet. It is the place where
every action has worldwide impact, like a pebble hitting the proverbial global
waters. No less should be the mindset and attitude of D.C. Baptists. Everything
we do impacts the world and everything the world does impacts us because the
world resides here in our backyard.
Unlike
most conventions across the nation, our region is far from homogenous. As a
result of being an “earth city,” people who migrate here bring their culture,
language, beliefs and mores with them. Our member churches often help to meet
the needs of the people who move here and we must continue to equip them to effectively
minister to all who walk into our churches. In addition, we must work to build
deeper relationships with international leaders and embassy personnel to further
support our churches as well as to advance God’s kingdom in our area. As
D.C. Baptists journey these 180 days, we are mindful of the fact that the
traditional geographical boundaries that once existed no longer do. We are
beginning to discern, dialogue and dream about how our future story might be
impacted as we explore what it would mean to become an "earth city"
convention with an international focus.
As
you probably know, a community stakeholder is a generic
term for a person or an entity that takes a legitimate interest in the well-being of a community as a whole and those who live there. Community stakeholders
are also concerned about the issues that affect the community it serves. We
know that the community of D.C. Baptists is large and complex. Our community
includes: the Baptist community, the Christian community, the religious
community, the national capital region and its sub-communities, the local
governmental community, the federal government, human service providers and the
distant global community. The interests we have are of freedom, faith and life
dignity for all humankind.
All
of our community relationships are important and provide an opportunity for us
to become a geopolitan convention, one whose boundaries are nonexistent. Partnerships help us to leverage our
diversity, collaborate on issues of mutual concern and share resources to address
the issues that haunt our communities both locally as well as on an
international level. By breaking through a traditional mindset of “convention
work,” we will be able to propel D.C. Baptists into a world arena of involvement
among groups that are making a difference in the daily lives of people around the
globe. The challenge for D.C. Baptists as we continue to dream about our future
is to go beyond the trappings of what we “should” do as a Convention to keep an
institution and denomination alive into a mindset that partners our convention with
the communities that we serve—including the global community. We must not fear
sitting at the table with those who are not Baptist, not of like faith or not
of faith at all.
The
Journey of 180 holds a lot of promise for the D.C. Baptist Convention
and the only question left to be answered is “Will we join the emerging work of
God that we discover and travel to the new land of mission that He has
prepared?”
