On not being "overtly Christian"

An Episcopal priest who describes herself as "left leaning" seems to have been right in the middle of the target audience for the recent Wild Goose Festival. Yet Catherine Caimano writes:

I was surprised that an event billed in part as a revival would have an almost pervasive timidity about mentioning Jesus and his central role in everything that was happening there. It was odd. Maybe our common discipleship was a given. Or maybe I was just at the wrong events or talking to the wrong people. Whatever the reason, I saw and heard little that was overtly Christian at this Christian gathering. I could just as easily have been at an Earth Day celebration or a political rally.

Now, Miss Caimano is not exactly a card carrying member of the religious right. She is a priest in one of the most liberal denominations in America. And yet even she was surprised by how little Jesus seemed to matter at the Emergent woodstock in North Carolina.

I was heartened to be with people who cared about such issues. But the longer I was there and the more people I talked with, the more I realized what was missing. It was the very reason that all these topics are important to Christians: Jesus.

I know that the resurrected Christ was present and that I was in the company of many faithful Christians. Yet despite all the good work that was in this place, I had a hard time finding and feeling the evangelical spirit of those whose work is discipleship. Whether I was listening to presenters or visiting with people or overhearing conversations around me, Jesus did not come up often.