It is Christian faith in the triune God — Creator of all humankind, Redeemer in Jesus Christ, revealing and renewing Spirit — which calls us Christians to human relationship with our many neighbors. Such relationship includes dialogue: witnessing to our deepest convictions and listening to those of our neighbors. It is Christian faith which sets us free to be open to the faiths of others, to risk, to trust, and to be vulnerable. In dialogue, conviction and openness are held in balance.

In a world in which Christians have many neighbors, dialogue is not only an activity of meetings and conferences. It is also a way of living out Christian faith in relationship and commitment to those neighbors with whom Christians share towns, cities, nations, and the earth as a whole. This in no way replaces or limits our Christian obligation to witness, as partners enter into dialogue with their respective commitments.

Neighbors may be partners in common social, economic, and political crises and quests; companions in intellectual and spiritual exploration; or, literally, the people next door. In some places, Christians and the church as an institution are in positions of power and influence, and their neighbors are without power. In other places it is the Christians who are powerless. There are also situations of tension and conflict where dialogue may not be possible or opportunities very limited. In many places people of different living faiths interact not only with each other but also with people of various ideologies. The emergence of new religious groups has brought new dimensions and tensions to interreligious relationships.

* Churches should seek ways in which Christian communities can enter into dialogue with their neighbors of different faiths and ideologies. They should also discover ways of responding to similar initiatives by their neighbors.

* Dialogues should normally be planned together. They may well focus on particular issues: theological or religious, political or social.

* Partners in dialogue should take stock of the religious, cultural and ideological diversity of their local situations. Only by being alert both to the particular areas of tension and discrimination and to the particular opportunities for conversation and cooperation in their own context will Christians and their neighbors be able to create the conditions for dialogue. They should be especially alert to infringements of the basic human rights of religious, cultural, or ideological minority groups.

* Partners in dialogue should be free to define themselves. One of the functions of dialogue is to allow participants to describe and witness to their faith in their own terms. Self-serving descriptions of other people's faith are one of the roots of prejudice, stereotyping, and condescension. It should be recognized by partners in dialogue that any religion or ideology claiming universality will also have its own interpretations of other religions and ideologies as part of its own self-understanding. Dialogue gives an opportunity for a mutual questioning of the understandings partners have about themselves and others.

* Dialogue should generate educational efforts in the community. In many cases Christians must take the initiative in education in order to restore the distorted image of neighbors that may already exist in their communities. Even where Christians do not live in close contact with people of various religious traditions, they should take seriously the responsibility to learn.

* Dialogue is most vital when its participants actually share their lives together. Where people of different faiths share common activities, intellectual interests, and spiritual quests, dialogue can be related to the whole of life and can become a style of living-in-relationship. The person who asks a neighbor of another faith to explain the meaning of a custom or festival has actually taken the first step in dialogue. Of course, dialogue between long-term neighbors may be frustrated by deeply ingrained suspicions, and men and women will have to reckon with the barriers between their present communities.

* Dialogue should be pursued by sharing in common enterprises in community. In the search for a just community of humankind, Christians and their neighbors will be able to help each other break out of cultural, educational, political, and social isolation in order to realize a more participatory society. It may well be that such common enterprises will generate interreligious committees.

* Partners in dialogue should be aware of their ideological commitments. Dialogue may begin as a kind of "internal dialogue," seeking to bring to explicit reflection and discussion issues in the encounter of the gospel with the ideological factors in various communities where Christians find themselves and with the ideological assumptions of Christians themselves.

* Partners in dialogue should be aware of cultural loyalties. Dialogue and sensitivity to neighbors need to be developed in the area of relating Christian faith to cultures. A culture should not be romanticized nor made into a false absolute but it may often challenge and enrich the expression of the Christian faith.

* Dialogues will raise the question of sharing in celebrations, rituals, worship, and meditation. Human communities draw together, express, and renew themselves in ritual and worship. Dialogue presumes an attitude of respect for the ritual expressions of the neighbors' community. Dialogue, at times, includes extending and accepting invitations to visit each other as guests and observers in family and community rituals, ceremonies, and festivals. Working together in common activities or visiting homes and festivals will eventually raise the very difficult and important question of fuller sharing in common prayer, worship, or meditation. Whether or not any such activities are undertaken, dialogue partners will want to face squarely the issues raised, sensitive to one another's integrity and fully realizing the assumptions and implications of what is done or not done.

* Dialogue should be planned and undertaken ecumenically whenever possible. Churches should move forward in planning for dialogue in cooperation with one another.

Abridged from the World Council of Churches, Guidelines on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies, used with permission.

Resources

Ariarajah, Wesley. The Bible and People of Other Faiths. Orbis, 1989. ISBN 2-8254-0840-9.

Bibliographies on Interfaith Relations. Office of Interfaith Relations, National Council of Churches, 475 Riverside Dr., New York NY 10017.

Confessing Christian Faith in a Pluralistic Society. Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research, Collegeville Mn., 1995.

"Confessing Christ Today" educational video, available from Presbyterian resource centers, with study guide.

Corless, Roger J. and Lynn de Silva. Christians Learning About Buddhist Neighbors. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations. Occasional Paper #6, 1992. PDS #74-292-01-006.

World Council of Churches. Mission and Evangelism: An Ecumenical Affirmation. 1982.

World Council of Churches. My Neighbour's Faith — and Mine. Geneva, 1986. Order from WCC Distribution Center, P.O. Box 326, Kutztown, PA 19530.

"The Church of Jesus Christ is the provisional demonstration of what God intends for all of humanity."

— Book of Order, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), G-3.0200

"True witness follows Jesus Christ in respecting and affirming the uniqueness and freedom of others."

"The Spirit of God is constantly at work in ways that pass human understanding and in places that to us are least expected. In entering into a relationship of dialogue with others, therefore, Christians seek to discern the unsearchable riches of God and the way [God] deals with humanity."

"Witness cannot be a one-way process, but of necessity is two-way; in it Christians become aware of some of the deepest convictions of their neighbors. It is also the time in which, within a spirit of openness and trust, Christians are able to bear authentic witness, giving an account of their commitment to the Christ, who calls all persons to himself."

— Mission and Evangelism: An Ecumenical Affirmation