The present flap over the Manhattan Declaration App, and the way it has been covered in various media outlets, highlights an easily forgotten point about the need for Christian winsomeness in the public square. Look at some of the coverage outside of the traditional Christian blogosphere, or the politically conservative sites at that. See especially this story from PC Magazine--hardly a culture wars outlet. I don't link to it to criticize their framing of the story, or to criticize the Declaration in light of the coverage it has received.
The Manhattan Declaration is a reasoned, winsome, and ecumenical (even if not in the National Council of Churches sense) document. But when it pops back into the news cycle, even non-polemical outlets use language to describe it that hardly differs from that used to describe Fred Phelps.
My point is not to complain that traditional-minded Christians can't get a break. My point is that we should not be overly concerned with P.R. and the news cycle.
Put simply: Christians do not need to make winsome statements of biblical truth in order to improve the reputation of the Church. We need to speak winsome words, seasoned with salt, because it is the right thing to do.
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