Episode 5: God With Us
INTERVIEW WITH DR. PATRICK FRANKLIN
Discussion Questions
After pointing to the Holy Spirit as the spirit of the future who makes the future real now, Dr. Franklin goes on to say we’re not there yet. “We still aren’t going to be fully understood in community. We still are going to have to work at conflict.” Franklin specifically names “being misunderstood” in relation to conflict. How important is being misunderstood specifically in starting and prolonging conflict? Why is this so painful or frustrating for us?
Dr. Franklin states that “the church is not like a worldly institution or organization. It has a different politics, it has a different economics.” Where do you see the different politics and economics most clearly? Are we doing as well as we should be in keeping church political and economic thinking centred on Jesus and our future hope in him?
Dr. Franklin states that our politics and economics are not locked into cause and effect because of the power of the resurrection. What do you think he means by that?
Patrick calls us to be people of the spirit, not predictable, but creative and called to do things we can’t do on our own. Where would you fall on the continuum of being really unsettled by that call or being invigorated?
Much of what was expressed in the first part of the interview was aspirational or ideal so Jesse asks Dr. Franklin to respond to that. Franklin responds that idealism hurts people and leads them to shame. Do stories or scenarios come to your mind in response to that comment? An example or occasion when idealism created hurt or shame.
How do you respond to the statement that God “wants your actual self and that person he loves and that person he can redeem and move forward and transform?”
If you are a leader in the church, how do you respond to the challenge to not expect the transforming work to have already been done before anyone even arrives?