The new pope seems to be signaling is a commitment to following Jesus down the dark alleys of the human journey, in spite of the fact that most of the rest of the religious world appears too busy protecting the 16-lane super highways we built to accommodate the long-since-died-down-increase in traffic.

It's a perfect time to get equipped for missional living and service in the neighborhood for the summer and all year long.

I realize that when I use the word God, there's a good chance I'm stepping on all kinds of land mines. Is there a more volatile word loaded down with more history, assumptions and expectations than that tired, old, relevant, electrically charged, provocative, fresh, antiquated yet ubiquitous as ever word God?

These folks don't carry much (or any) political clout.  No one in D.C. is listening to them. They don't have the deep pockets or White House access like the older more conservative clan does.  So no one hears their voices.

Bell doesn't have to call himself a liberal or anything else, short of lover of Jesus. But it might be wise to reach out in a new way to people who have been his partners even before he preached his first sermon.

Life In The Trinity Ministries, where Brian McLaren is the "Resident Theologian," proposed this question as their conference theme this past weekend here in Fort Worth. In the latest episode of "Outlaw Theology," McLaren answers.

While the emergent Christians are endeavoring to re-imagine the way we engage faith, one another and the world differently, the movement still is dependent on human beings. As such, we tend to screw it up.

If Machiavelli had written "The Pastor" instead of "The Prince," what kind of ruthlessly practical advice might he have offered to someone trying to become a famous religious figure?

Whether or not upper-middle-class Americans choose simple living, activism and following Christ, we'll always be choosing, and that colors our theology. But some folks don't have a choice.

I left the church as a teenager on less than good terms. My youth leader threw a Bible at me for persisting with my questions. Fortunately, I found a new community that represented something different.

But of course, underneath the veneer of something new lies the same old evangelical doctrine. And this is what bothers me more than my personal objections to most evangelicals' theology.

To say that something like sexual orientation, race, economic status, gender are not issues to us is to speak from a position of privilege.

The temptation at a moment like this is twofold. Unable to see our way forward, we can give into despair. We can also succumb to optimism -- to the false hope that, against the odds, we will triumph as a nation or as the human race.

Most folks like to divide Evangelicals along political and theological spectrums. But I think the more significant divide is between those who bully and those who stand up on behalf of the bullied.

Please keep in mind that I do not think that everyone need be one, but that there is a growing number of people who yearn for a drastically different approach to being the Body of Christ.

Our opponents say that inviting other religious voices into theological education will eliminate Christian distinctiveness. But, to their surprise, something different is happening.

With all the angst about the economy, the deficit, and a looming government shut-down, I'm still concerned that we're treating symptoms rather than diagnosing the underlying disease.

Only time will tell whether more evangelical leaders will add their voices to the chorus calling for full and unapologetic inclusion of homosexuals in the life of the church.

With every crisis comes an opportunity for self-examination, for learning, for change and growth, and it is indeed encouraging to see the Pope urging leaders to fully seize the opportunities presented by present problems.

"Big tent" is also a prophetic challenge to the rancorous debates that are the public face of religion today. The Religious Left and the Religious Right look more and like Washington. The younger generations look for something more positive from Christian faith.