In two weeks the nation’s capital will be abuzz as our first African-American president takes the oath of office. For the Church, equally notable will be the presence of evangelical Pastor Rick Warren, set to deliver the invocation prayer on the historic day.

In recent weeks, Warren has faced intense criticism from both sides of a fractious debate. The homosexual community is furious over Warren’s support of Proposition 8, which overturned California’s Supreme Court ruling permitting gay marriage. Critics on the right are angry at Warren for lending legitimacy to President-Elect Barack Obama, a supporter of abortion rights.

In addressing the criticisms, Warren told one reporter, "We’re both willing to be criticized in order to try to bring America in to a new day of civil discourse and to create a new model that says you don’t have to agree only with your side on everything. You can reach out in the middle and try to figure out…a way that we can make America a better place—without having to agree on everything."

Setting a good example

Warren is setting a good example for the Church, which should take to heart his attempt to establish civil discourse with others who disagree with Christians’ positions on various issues.

Another good example appears in the January issue of Christianity Today, where Focus on the Family’s Glenn Stanton writes about the campus debates over gay marriage that he engages in with an atheist and gay activist.

Despite their obvious opposing views on this and many other issues, Stanton reveals that they are dear friends. Says Stanton, "We want to show young people how democracy not only allows but actually demands debate that is thoughtful, passionately disagreeable, yet civil."

Anyone who has been part of an apocryphal church split where friends turn into enemies knows that the Church could benefit from less heated exchanges in its discourse.

Lessons for the Church

And, behind the headlines of the heated accusations that get flung at anyone who dares oppose a particular, politically-correct stance of the day are some other lessons for the Church:

Those who try to stifle open discussion or hide disagreements within their walls are likely to see complaints aired via blogs, Web sites or in other forums. One megachurch pastor stepped down several months ago when such a tempest distracted from his attempts to continue in office, only one of numerous examples of people taking their grievances public.

About two months ago I heard Jeff Iorg, a seminary president from California, speak about engaging the culture by umpiring baseball games and serving as a chaplain for a major league baseball team.

Not only does stepping beyond tradition require overcoming barriers in relating to those outside the church, he warned it takes a strong stomach: "I’ve been doing this for 20 years and I can tell you 99 percent of the opposition comes from religious leaders. The problem with engaging culture is not culture as much as it is us."

I credit this observation to Iorg, who commented that reaching out to the culture requires getting over being angry at people from other backgrounds. Admitting that he gets frustrated over the moral decay he sees around him, Iorg noted that it’s a challenge to walk into a worldly atmosphere and befriend those who may not like us.

Yet such is the test that awaits those who follow Christ.