LISTEN TO HEAR, NOT TO RESPOND, YA HEARD?
This season we made friends with this dude named Rich. He’s a snowboard instructor, a studied intellectual, a devil’s advocate, an anarchist. He’s a guy who proudly takes a stance against religion due to the harm his Mormon upbringing caused him and his family. Despite being so against “the man” politically and religiously, he kept coming back to our dinners with a posse— none of whom skated or hardly ever waxed their gear.
Rich would often bring up spicy topics of conversation, strongly stating his opinion, and wind up getting backlash from someone within earshot, thus leading to the weekly debate. The temptation was to jump in and depolarize the situation, but instead, we decided to watch and listen — and it was good. I soon realized that this was a NEED for many in our community: a place to voice thoughts and opinions and not be judged, but be welcomed to share, discuss, and even disagree!
This realization taught us so much, mainly that even those who do not identify as “for Christ” can still feel at home within our community. That’s the kind of community I think Jesus built: one where all were truly welcome, felt at home, and were authentically heard. We are really excited to continue the conversations with our new friends next season, so we can all keep growing and learning together.
Dylan Kobriger – SFC Vail Valley – Vail, CO