a great post. and the wise person will see how obama's background - born in Hawaii, to a White mother from Kansas with has Irish and English roots, and a father, from Kenya... studied in Indonesia, Hawaii, California, New York, and Boston... experience [in] both urban and surburban... engaging cities and villages... [having] been both rich and poor - influences his stance on a number of difficult issues - abortion being the most obvious - and the kind of 'pluralistic' Christian he is.

obviously, this post rings true with me because one of the things i've been writing about repeatedly on my blog the past year is that the answers at the ends of the spectrum have become irrelevant in our day. we had a vivid picture of how that has to work this week: when ted kennedy collapsed at the lunch he was at, the person who saw him off in the ambulance was, as npr said, 'his closest friend in the Senate: orrin hatch.'

ted kennedy?! best friends with orrin hatch?!?!

to me, the question is this: how far are hardline evangelicals willing to take 'both/and'? who is the orrin hatch or ted kennedy with whom we need to agree to lay down gauntlets and see that solutions don't need to be handcuffed by 'nonnegotiable doctrines'?

mike rucker
fairburn, georgia

You can only take "both/and" so far.

Are BOTH Christianity AND Hinduism ultimately true?

Is God BOTH a trinity (ala Christianity) AND a single entity (ala Islam)?

Is God BOTH evil AND good?

Both/and is an alright philosophy when it comes to second- or third-order truths, but it is not workable with first-order truths.

How does Obama understand the fringe by alienating those who cling to their religion and guns? Yes, I'm one of "them". Being first and foremost a follower of Christ, but also an avid hunter, I was directly cast overboard from is desirable list, not once but twice.

Sure he may understand the city slickers, and the suburbs are not really that different, but come out to the country for a change.

Ah, COMMUNITY, the ultimate goal. I'm OK you're OK. There is no such hing as "wrong." Or "sin." But there is evil, defined as anything extreme, black and white, or a line drawn in the sand. It is the only thing we will not tolerate.

Who needs God (you know, that narrow, unloving God those fundamentalists keep relying on) when we are approaching Utopia?

Let us know when the shuttle lands. This Obama nonsense is nothing but a dream world, which probably explode.

"“Third culture” is used to describe the fusion of multiple cultures, the art of adaptation and dialogue rather than dictation."

/facepalm

Good lord, you have got to be kidding me.
You seriously wrote that?
Does the term "melting pot" mean anything anymore?
And by definition of melting pot, should it not mean that we all need to be masters in the"...the art of adaptation and dialogue rather than dictation." because of our unique system of blended cultures?
Which, I don't know about you, but we have been doing as a nation of mixed cultures for the last two-hundred plus years!?!
Are we so inured to others who are not like us in the church that we have socially disassociated ourselves from the world around us that we allow a culture of blind aloofness and arrogance to drape over us. So now we are surprised, and wondering if we're ready to meet this, laughably, "new" challenge?
Please tell me this isn't so!

"The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside."

Alan Bloom, Closing of the American mind.

I am sorry, but the only thing I am seeing is someone who has turned this country on its proverbial head. Change has come - and this change so far has been nothing good. Well, unless you are pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-tax or pro-union. He's a smooth talker to be sure ... and we are stuck with him - for now. But with him, Pelosi, Reid and others at the helm, the U.S. is the Titanic and there is a huge iceberg dead ahead.

hey - david - is there any more room in that sandbox? maybe i'll come over and bury my head there, too...

I get what you are saying. And you have challenged many of us to get out of our self-imposed theological boxes and rethink our "third culture" IQ. We cannot begin to reach others with the Good News until we can respect them as people first. Didn't Jesus do that when he ate with the tax collectors and "sinners"?

David,
The only country that meets your form of rigid social structure with regards to the issues of Abortion, homosexuality, homsexual marriage, and anti-union/self-organized is Iran.
Unfortunately, Iran does not meet your requirements for being anti-tax, however, I believe Saudi Arabia might be a decent compromise...now, which one would you like to pattern your version of the United States after?
Me, I kind of enjoy being able to decide my own faith, and how I exercise it without some busy body who's more concern with the way I behave than with my soul.

Wow - I am shocked at the angry comments. Even if you don't support Obama how can this post make you mad and how can you turn it into anti-christian?

Dave - thanks for a thought provoking post - I think the comments support your ideas (even though the commenters didn't mean to) about us needing to create third cultures.

Dave, thank you for a great article. As a 3rd-culture-kid myself, I resonate deeply with your thoughts. We are moving toward a more global culture, one in which the Church was always called to move and serve. Thank you, my friend. Can't wait to read your book.

I agree with Liz.

As for my church, I think our staff is ready, but many in our church are not. Change is hard and I'm learning that the wheels of change move veeeeeeeery slowly.

without a doubt President Obama is uniquely qualified to move between cultures and build bridges because of his background. This skill is something essential in his position of leadership in this world. We in the church and society need to be able to do this better as our globe gets smaller and smaller without loosing the important convictions we have that are Biblically based. One of the main ones of course is to love our neighbors.

America has been a melting pot but in the past 30 years we have been emphasizing multiculturalism which is not melting pot. The third culture church is not trying to force people from another culture into the typical mold of the church we have today. It's taking the church outside of the 4 walls and going to the other culture to engage the people there. It's having church on the street if people are living on the street rather than trying to entice one or two of them into the church building where they will feel uncomfortable. Don't just fellowship with people from your own culture. If you are white, hang out with the black people. If you are American, hang out with the Latinos or Asians. If you are Asian, hang out with the American or the Latino. If you are rich hang out with the poor people. If you are educated, hang out with the uneducated. It's getting out of your comfort zone to reach the whole body of Christ. If you have a church with black and white people, you can worship with a variety of songs that will speak to both races. Or if you have Latinos, sing some Spanish choruses as well as English. Mix up the music with worship that appeals to both young and old. That's just the beginning....