Related, this idea of pursuing justice first in our own lives and circles reminds me of something I was struck by particularly in Boston, when my day-to-day circle was much more mixed in terms of their beliefs than they had been in my time at Northwest. One of the few evangelical Christians that I knew “pursued justice” in her own life and circle to the extent that it seemed unhealthy. You touched on our obsessiveness in an earlier post. Her way of looking at herself was familiar to me from many of the church-settings I have been in, but in my new context struck me as rather odd. Sometimes it seems to me that conservative Christians tend to emphasize the importance of one’s personal life, personal holiness, etc–that it is easy to become wrapped up in the inner workings of one’s emotional state, small interactions, and every-day tasks at the expense of a balanced perspective. I only use the adjective “conservative” because I have been going to a “mainline protestant” church since moving to Scotland and have not found that tendency in my church here. I recognize, though, that my experience is limited and perhaps improper to make generalizations from.