On 10/13/2016 Transform Minnesota presented Q Commons at City Church in Minneapolis. The topic was “Engaging Our Divided Nation,” educating Christians on how they can bring hope and leadership to their communities in a critical moment for America.
As we are on the brink of one of the most controversial Presidential elections in recent history, we are seeing more and more division among Americans. With many Christian asking how can we, as Christians, think well about politics and voting? Where do policies and politics fall short? Should I even vote?
Don Samuels, a director on the Minneapolis School Board and a former Minneapolis city council member taught on leadership practices that place the values of Jesus ahead of American culture. Here are some quotes from his remarks:
“If we are to transcend cultures and lift up the Kingdom of God, than those with social and moral superiority must humble ourselves and retire our predatory affairs, we must transpire with a voice that says “the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.” (Isaiah 11:6-7)”
“Christianity tends to get co-opted by the liberal interests, cultural norms. Fearful people often create a fearsome god. Prejudice people imagine a prejudice god. The same way our just cultures worship a god that indulges in justice. Materialistic cultures build up a god who indulges in things. And racist cultures conjure a god who prefers one over the other.”
“Let’s discard placeism, classism, and racism, and embrace the human family together.”
Don Samuels is a director on the Minneapolis School Board and a former Minneapolis city council member. He immigrated to New York City in 1970 and earned a degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute. For 20 years he was a toy designer and manager at companies such as Hasbro, Milton Bradley and Lakeside Games. He co-founded the Hope Collaborative and founded the Institute for Authentic Dialogue on Race, which guides leaders in conversations about race.
Click here to read the remarks of other local Q Commons Minneapolis presenters.
