I’ve just returned from three days at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, the largest annual gathering of Christian media leaders from radio, television, digital, and print, held in the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.

I met friends from Uganda, Russia, Israel, Canada, Australia, South Korea, and across the US who are investing their lives to communicate the love of Jesus to others where they live (Of course, there was also one place promoting their planned mega-mega-church that will be bigger than Texas Stadium and another revealing their plans to rebuild (?) Noah’s Ark, but these were only a small portion of the wide variety of exhibitors.).

In some of the media interviews, people have started to ask why an evangelical Christian like me would blog on a non-evangelical spiritual site like Beliefnet. I hadn’t thought that deeply about it. I knew I had an opportunity to share stories of God at work on social issues of our time and said yes.

But as I considered the question, my explanation for “why I do this” takes on an enhanced meaning. For far too long, many Christians have stepped away from dialogue with other spiritual traditions rather than engaging in efforts to present a Christian worldview that can stand on its own among other worldviews.

I am not ashamed of the good news of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16), but I am also called to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). I can’t do that if I only hang out with people like me and leave those on the “outside” without a voice that does what Jesus did; speaking truth with grace, sensitivity, and a heart that seeks to help those around me.

Ultimately, Jesus communicated that the greatest thing we can do as his followers is to love God and love others. It’s only when I do both, unconditionally, that I fully reflect his teachings and life.

That is why I do this.

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DILLON
BURROUGHS is an author, activist, and co-founder of Activist Faith.
Dillon served in Haiti following the epic 2010 earthquake and has
investigated modern slavery in the US and internationally. His books
include Undefending Christianity, Not in My Town (with Charles J.
Powell), and Thirst No More (October). Discover more at DillonBurroughs.org.