Deal with it!

When something big happens in the world, I stop what I'm teaching and we deal with it. If we don't, we make ourselves irrelevant. The church often avoids controversial issues, but people want to hear meaningful issues discussed.

I don't think you've dealt with an issue intelligently until you can articulate both sides in an honest and respectful way, so people on both sides say, "Yeah, he gets it; he's saying it the way I say it." Even if their position is not "biblical" and you disagree, you get a fair hearing.

As Christians we often take good positions in poor ways. The answer is not "the Bible says so." Absolutely I believe in the authority of the Scriptures, but that answer is superficial; it indicates you really haven't thought through why the Bible says so.

I don't try to answer the questions we're asking, but the questions they're asking. I start with the position farthest from a biblical position. I take that to its ultimate conclusion, help people process that, and then ...