My Conversation with a German Businesswoman...

The trip to Germany was great. I will share some things as the week goes along. Today, I want to write about an eye-opening conversation I had on a train with a sharp, German businesswoman. She told me that she had traveled all over the world and Chicago was her favorite American city. When I asked her "Why?" She said that she loved the spirit of the people of Chicago. I proceeded to ask her how was the Chicago people's spirit different than that of the people of Germany. She replied that the Germans were known for their pacifism. She said she loved the American can do willingness to get it done spirit. She said that the Americans don't mine taking risk and in her opinion that is why America has been so successful.

My response was agreement with her, but I followed her comment up with a question, "Why do you think that Americans (Chicago more specifically), possess that kind of risky, can do spirit?" After thinking for awhile, she said it was the American pioneer spirit that made them like this. That since the founding of the country, Americans have always taken risks. Then, I followed up on her comments by making a statement that through for a curve. I asked her, "Can I tell you another reason why Americans possess this kind of spirit? It may even be more telling than our pioneer legacy."

This is what I said to her, I believe that our faith has a great deal to do with our spirit. I said, Christians in America believe the bible. If you read the bible it is a great book of faith from beginning to end. It is a book filled with great stories of people that heard from God, obeyed and trusted Him, and then acted on what He said. Many times that meant they took great risks. They trusted that God would see them through it, that he would make them successful in the end.

She was pretty surprised. I can tell she had never thought of that before. From there, she talked about how she saw religion as binding, not freeing people. It was her opinion that the religious people in American (in her mind "the Conservatives") were standing in the way of President Obama's progressive agenda. She expressed to me that the American people must get behind the President's agenda. If not, America will no longer be a super power in the world and China will takes its place. This she believed would not be a good thing for the rest of the world.

While in Germany, I talked to others and most, if not all, young and middle-aged Germans share her beliefs. They perceive our Christian values as old and standing in the way of America's progress.

Tomorrow, I will share a conversation I had with a twenty-six year old German young man who sees the bible as old and no longer relative.

Have a great Tuesday!

-Pastor