Vestal on Falwell's Legacy

Daniel Vestal, Coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, gave one of the best appraisals of Falwell's legacy that I have seen in print. Here's his conclusion:

Perhaps many of us are seeking a third way, a radical way. We desire to hold our Christian faith close to our hearts, but we also desire to have genuine friendship and dialogue with people of other faiths to build a human community. We desire to be involved in political decision making from our faith perspective, but we don't believe that any one party has a corner on the truth. We do believe that the story and truth of Scripture come from God, but we want to preserve the freedom of conscience that allows for different interpretations.

In contrast to seeking a "moral majority," which seems to have the connotation of partisan power, it seems that as followers of Christ we should seek to be bold witnesses, humble servants, compassionate ministers in our society. Of course this will mean engagement in the political process and public advocacy as well as prayer and worship, but not in a way that so clearly identifies the eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ with partisan politics.