I began a book today called Reading the Bible with the Damned, by Bob Ekblad. It originally sparked my interest because our church is beginning a corporate Bible reading campaign, with the book as a guide. Additionally, my personal life in Scriptures is practically non-existent at the moment. So since the title described me quite well, I began turning the pages.

Ekblad is sensitive to the fact that we, as mainstream Christians/Christians living within the dominant culture easily and ignorantly label the marginalized with titles such as "poor", "illegals", "homeless", and "disabled". (Even within well-intentioned socially aware circles, the tendency to profile someone due to their race or social status is rampant.)

Ekblad proclaims early on that we must humbly "seek out personal contact, always with an openness to listen in order to understand, recognizing our own tendency to distrust and judge". This truth rings out louder than ever, even more so now Faith and I are living in an intentional Christian community. I find myself horribly guilty of settling into the community here, not seeking out "personal contact" with those outside the mainstream, all the while wondering why this community of Christians lacks diversity, ministry, outreach. So as I grow restless and frustrated with the, at times, bland environment, I find myself damned for contributing to the vanilla atmosphere.

The next chapter in the book is entitled "Reading Scripture for the Liberation of the Not-Yet-Believing". Bottoms up.