Seeds of Compassion Reflections
I just returned from my trip to Seattle for the Seeds of Compassion event. What a special couple of days.
I made a video of my reflection of the event. I have picture in my flickr page - you can see them by following the link on the right side (if you are actually on dougpagitt.com and not just reading the RSS feed).
The long and short of it was that I was on a panel with Desmond Tutu and 8 other people. The topic was “what do we do to build compassion” in young people of our communities. As it turned out I was one of the only panelists who was from a particular community. So many of the other responses were more big ideas than practical suggestions.
To watch the webcast go of the panel here and scroll to Tuesday. The linked both panels together so it is like 4 hours long. My part is about the 3:40 and 4:00
Here is a screen grab of the panel.
The video below are my reflections on the entire event.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
“the Kingdom of God where ever we we find it.” Really enjoyed the vid on this post. Just let a meeting at a house church in Austin and the topic was about acts of compassion by folks who would be considered Christian and by those who would not be. I really like to idea that we followers of the way of Jesus don’t have a monopoly on compassion or on the work of the Kingdom of God and that we can come upon “kingdom work” anytime and it doesn’t have to be Christians doing the work.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Dude, you drive with your hands off the wheel quite a bit!
April 18th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Man I would have loved to have been there.. and that is amazing that there were not others from “Evangelical expressions” present!
I have always thought that the Dali Lama and Bishop Tutu were such cool guys.
“Costume” that is FREAKING AWESOME! Yes!
funny, I never thought of “laughter” as in that list, but it is so true!
What an amazing contrast of non-violence and and the potential use of force for protection.
I agree that Christians have lost sight of what it looks and feels like to be in a world that they are not the center, mostly because they have created the Christian ghettos when they realized the world was not going to allow them to be the center of the world, if the separatists view of living was what Christianity was about. What you described at the compassion conference was the way I see the First Century church living and being among a world that was filled with so many other faiths and gods. It was Paul looking at so many different gods, and telling those around him that he serves the unknown God, and he knows him and he desire for you to know him too!
Man, great stuff, thanks!
April 18th, 2008 at 9:12 am
BTW: I went out and bought a snowball Mic because of you! Thanks a lot!
And yeah, I love it!
April 18th, 2008 at 9:43 am
I enjoyed watching that video and hearing your reflections on the event. I added a link to it from my post about the panel discussion I attended (my post isn’t nearly so profound as your reflections)
April 19th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Doug-
I’m so proud of you and happy for you as I can sense your joy in this video! What a blessing.
I agree with Peter, though. Keep your ands on the wheel!
April 19th, 2008 at 11:45 am
[…] can find the link HERE… scroll down to Tuesday’s event on Youth and Spiritual Connection. Doug Pagitt, pastor at Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis, told a story about he and his wife’s […]
April 19th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Funny…You get critiqued like crazy because they just KNOW that you’re not going to talk about Jesus. Then all you do is talk about Jesus. I wonder if the haters will give you props for it???
April 20th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Doug,
I’m concerned about this. How does a Christian justify engaging in spiritual enterprise with a bunch of non-Christians? This is extremely dangerous ground to tread on, and we risk corrupting ourselves and our weaker brethren.
We can pay all the lip service to Jesus we want, but if we only speak of His mercy and compassion, we’re only telling half the story and not doing any real good. He will return as judge and avenger in the end times and will eternally punish people whose sins are not forgiven. We need to warn people about this if we are going to display real love.
Unless we’re there to share the gospel of Jesus’ death & resurrection, and plead with all of them to repent of their sin and believe on Him (which is showing TRUE compassion), the Bible is pretty clear about not engaging spiritually in these kinds of interfaith ventures (2 Corinthians 6).
Also, what about what happened when the ark of God was brought into the temple of Dagon in 1 Samuel 5?
–Mike
April 20th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Doug,
I would have liked to comment on what you had to say, but I was too busy counting the many cars and trucks that you passed. How fast were you driving?
April 21st, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Doug,
Cool that you’re hanging out with some of my people… here in the NW. Lisa and Jim… good folks! I’m so pumped for the opportunities you are being given, and so glad to see your humility and honest reflection on all of it. The reflection you gave in the panel on the warm blanket really struck home for many of us in our Sunday evening gathering. It’s the story that we identify with… and you are telling so many good ones. Thanks.
It will be great to have you and Tony here in Bend this summer for the tour.
Nate
April 21st, 2008 at 1:54 pm
What??? Did you get a chance to share Jesus? If you are labeled “Evangelical”, then I want no parts. Thanks to you and Rob for showing your true colors in participating in an event like this. Wow!
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:41 am
This was a chance to show that Christians care about compassion as well as the rest of the world.
I’m so glad Doug Pagitt and Rob Bell chose to do that.
I’m disappointed at the Christians who think they should have opted out and I don’t really understand it because the Bible clearly says Jesus was a very compassionate man. I wonder why his followers don’t value compassion like he did? I wonder what he thinks about that?
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Doug!
fun to catch up on the ride to portland. nice medium
I loved the seeds of compassion vids, i skipped around and bit but saw your piece on the adoption, and joining folks already showing compassion.
much love to you and shelly. it is good for creation to have you doing what you do. it helps me be who I am. thanks.
btw i recognized yours and rob’s costumes from Tony’s vid:)
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Oh dear.. Corey, you spoke too soon it seems…
Fantastic stuff, Doug. So much hope!
May 14th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
I was looking around for blogs on Seeds of Compassion and found yours. I really liked what you had to say. I so did not like those I found disparaging you and Rob Bell for not preaching what they thought you should preach. They talked of being Ambassadors for Christ. When they speak of someone like me as “lost” and not truly compassionate, how can they not know they have become Alienators for Christ?
I thought the very human interplay between HH and Desmond Tutu not only was what did you say, deconstructing, but it was profoundly sacred. No barriers. That moment, when they just looked each other in the eyes, and then laughed. That loving connection, that is the thing.
July 6th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Very interesting stuff. I’ve never experienced Christians that think they are the only compassionate people, so I guess I can’t relate to that idea. I’ve had many friends, Christian and other beliefs that are very giving and loving. I wish I could have attended this conference to understand more of its purpose. I’ve read and heard the positive and negative views of it from a variety of places, and I can see both sides of the issue. I listen to Rob Bell’s Mars Hill podcast regularly and it doesn’t surprise me at all that he was one of the panelists. I have always been inspired by his beliefs in community and when I have the occasion to visit Mars Hill, I see it in action as well.
But just like Mike said, I’m also concerned about this. Even if the only purpose was just talking about compassion and humanity, it was still from the perspective of different faiths. As evangelical Christians, shouldn’t Christ be brought into the conversation? I don’t think this conference was unbiblical, but I do wonder if Jesus would have volunteered to be on the panel. If so, what would he have said?