Make your reservations … Come with reservations … to The Response

Many of you have heard of the invitation for Christians to gather in Houston on August 6 for what is being called “a solemn assembly” – a day of worship, prayer and fasting on behalf of our nation. Some of you know that our staff and Board have had more than a bit of concern about whether to participate in or endorse this gathering. We are writing to tell you that we are going to attend and participate in The Response, with some reservations, and we are inviting you to do the same.

We want to be clear. We believe that it is legitimate (and important!) that those who believe in Jesus Christ choose to convene and pray to God in His name and on the basis of hope in Him. And we certainly see that the Scriptures (and history) tell of times when civic/political leaders initiated requests for people of faith to intercede on behalf of an empire, a nation, a region, a community.

Our concerns about this particular gathering were primarily threefold:

1. Is this call to prayer primarily a political ploy by one or more prominent elected officials to curry the favors and subsequent votes of the nation’s Christ followers?

2. Is this really intended to be a non-partisan gathering of the Christian community for prayer, or is this really intended for those Christians whose views largely coincide with only one political party and will result in more rhetoric than repentance?

3. Maybe most crucial to us: is this a gathering where we Christians will repent of those things we have done, and those things we have failed to do, which have resulted in the brokenness and injustices that exist within our nation, or will we be led to engage in pointing out and denouncing the sins and failures of others?

This is what we have done, and what we have concluded.

We have engaged in several lengthy conversations with other leaders in Houston with whom we have partnered through the years, and whose hearts we trust. We have expressed as clearly as possible our concerns, and we have been transparent about the level of cynicism we have based on some prior events that were supposed to be focused on united prayer and repentance. We have also listened, and discovered that many of the other leaders in Houston share at least some of our concerns … and some have taken actions to try to insure that The Response is non-political, non-partisan, and without finger-pointing to those outside the Body of Christ.

While we do not have a level of trust in Governor Perry nor the sponsors of the The Response (none of whom we know personally), we do trust these leaders in the city … not all of whom we agree with on everything, but with whom we gladly stand in hopes of the transformation of our city through “the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole city.” These leaders, ranging in ethnicity from African to Asian to native American to Euro-caucasian, and ranging in political alliance from Democrat to Libertarian to independent to Republican, are choosing to participate in The Response. And because one of our own core values and core convictions is the relational and functional unity of the Body of Christ, we are going to participate as well.

We have urged the organizers, and Gov. Perry’s office, to not have the Governor speak at The Response, nor to be on the platform, in order to avoid any suspicion of duplicity or mixed motives because of the swirl of speculation about his possible candidacy to be a nominee for President of the United States. We cannot guarantee this will happen. But we have been assured that if he does speak (and he did extend the call to gather) he will not state anything on that day other than his conviction that our hope as a nation is for the intervention of God.

Further, our good friend Doug Stringer has been invited to be one of the two emcee “managers” of the event. Doug cannot guarantee that nothing will be said or prayed that isn’t laced with some level of partisan politics nor some level of judgment. But he has assured us that if any speaker or prayer leader ventures into those areas he intends to humbly, and as graciously as he knows how, step forward and redirect what is being said and restore our focus to prayer and to repentance for the failures of those of us who claim to follow Christ Jesus and say we want His Kingdom of love to come and His will of shalom for all to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We hope you will join us. And we urge you, whether you choose to come and participate or not, to please join us in praying for Doug and the other leaders of The Response, that this event will indeed be one of united prayer and praise and repentance, and will bring amendment of life within the Body of Christ and within our nation.

For more information about The Response, click here.