I’ve been quietly haunted by a fear: that I’m in my mid-50s, finally have something worth passing on, but have nobody to pass it on to – and that time is not in my favor. Then something cracked open for me. What if death doesn’t end the call to make disciples? What if it’s not even close to the end of my usefulness to the Kingdom – because eternity is embodied, on a restored earth, with real work still to do? “O death, where is thy sting?” hits completely differently when you realize the grave can’t stop what God is building in you.

Here’s a conversation with my friend Diego Mera. We talk a bit about our relationship and how we became friends, but one the reason I thought this would be an interesting conversation is that I consider myself a follower of Jesus and therefore a Christian, while Diego considers himself an atheist. And despite that significant difference, we’ve found a great value in our mutual relationship. I’d never actually spent much time talking with Diego about his religious history, and this seemed like a perfect topic. By the time we’re done, I think you’ll see that we agree on a lot more than we disagree on, and even our points of disagreement are not points of dispute, but instead points of mutual growth.