Religious exclusivism, social inclusion: missiological reflections

Initiating conversations about religious exclusivism and social inclusion at the level of faith-communities implies conversations about belonging. Conversations on belonging on their turn necessarily ask the “Who are we? Who am I?” and “How am I/we?” questions. In the case of faith-communities these identity questions can only be answered in a relational way; the unavoidable relationality is the relationality with God. So, questions about God´s identity enter into conversation: “Who is God? and “How is God?”
The language through which faith communities and their theologians describe, explain, and formulate their beliefs in God´s relationality with the world at large (inhabited planet, universe, cosmos, creation) in e.g. doctrines, symbols, confessions, texts, and narratives has immediate consequences for the practices of a particular faith-community and/through its members in the lived life (both within and beyond liturgical settings). Within a faith community the question of belonging then translates into further questions such as: “Based on our faith who does and who does not belong and why?” Thus, the question about the other enters the stage: “Who and how is the other?”