Having different views and values than the people around you during a political year could be stressful. Some people can be very outspoken about which candidates or issues they support. It can feel like you’re walking on eggshells around people in general including people at church. So, how do you love people that disagree with you on politics?
How can we be obedient to God’s commandment, to love other people, even when we really disagree on voting issues and candidates? We will be interacting with friends, family, neighbors, coworkers every day and the chances are high we will encounter people that don’t see the world the same way as we do. This is a chance for you to make sure you’re ready for this political season.
Let’s agree on some truths. The Bible is clear that we are to love one another. This is a red letter moment from Jesus in the Bible.
John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you. That you love one another, just as I have loved you. You also are to love one another. By this, all people will know that you are my disciples. If you have love for one another.”
People will know that we follow Jesus by how we love each other. When a Pharisee asks Jesus about which commandment was the greatest, his response in Matthew 22:37-39 was “You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The number two commandment is to love others. This is a big deal in Christianity so hopefully, we can all agree we need to love people.
Second truth: We are called to make disciples of all nations and to be peacemakers.
Matthew 29:19-20 “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.”
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers for, they shall be called sons of God. James 3:17-18 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable gentle, open to reason. Full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
Psalm 37:37 “Mark the blameless and behold, the upright for there is a future for the man of peace.”
Third truth: By living in the United States, we have the right to an opinion. We have the first amendment in the constitution of the United States that ensures our freedom of speech. We are allowed to think our own thoughts and believe what we want to believe. And we can gather with people peacefully to express ourselves and to make our own opinions and thoughts known in the press.
The fourth truth: This one may be a little tougher. Loving people and having an expressing our own opinions and thoughts are not mutually exclusive. We can have different beliefs, thoughts, and opinions and love each other.
This is getting harder and harder to do. The culture in the US is getting more divisive and traditional Christian values and principles are being challenged in social settings and in the courts. How can we stand for what we believe is true and right when many become offended or strongly disagree with us? While at the same time, we are supposed to be showing them that we love them. As the political campaigns ramp up, the debates will be scheduled, the political ads are going to be starting and taking over our television, radio or social feeds. Emotions will be running high and opinions will be flying back and forth. Signs will be put in the yard, stickers on the cars and the battle will begin. Christians are challenged to continuously be in a position to make disciples and teach others about Jesus. So here’s a big question for you to consider… Can you prioritize the opportunity to share Jesus over your desire to be right about your politics?
Here are some suggestions to endure this time and continue to love people and make disciples when we disagree.
1 Except the fact that no one sees the world exactly like you do and it’s totally permissible for people to have different views. God gave us free will and the people of the United States have agreed that we are free to think for ourselves. It is one of our founding and valued principles. We should honor others’ rights to have their own opinion. Our ancestors fought in wars for us to have the right to agree and disagree.
There is benefit in our differences. When we blend our skills, talents, and views together, it helps our society develop better ideas and better solutions. It may not always be pretty or an easy process, but we benefit greatly when our freedom to have different ideas and thoughts is applied to a productive conversation or cause. What an opportunity for Christians to witness to others by being willing to discuss issues and listen to people who share different views than we do.
2. All humans can choose their response to disagreement and conflict. We all have seen plenty of examples of how not to react. But for Christians, we’re called to a greater purpose in our reactions. It can be an act of discipline and obedience to our creator. We can choose to be peaceful. We can choose to listen and to ask questions to better understand. We can choose not to raise our voices. We can choose not to argue. We can choose to be at peace and still have our own strong views and opinions. We will need God’s grace and power to do this in many cases. It’s so important to preserve the moment when we have an interaction with people so that we have an opportunity to share Jesus with someone.
We may be in disagreement about an important issue, very specific to our time on earth right now, however, Christians also need to see things with an eternal perspective. If we participate in loud, explosive, out of control arguments that ignite anger, rage or worse in us or in others… This won’t increase our odds of winning someone over to Christ. We should always be on guard with our behavior to make sure that we’re not preventing someone from considering Jesus. We may be the only Christian that someone knows, and that requires representing to others what Jesus is all about.
3. We’re allowed, even encouraged, to participate and be active in politics. We should all be as active as we can on issues that are important to us in our families. Being politically active can happen at the same time as loving others that disagree with us. Being active doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to try and convince anyone to change their mind. Being active can be about your own personal knowledge. It could be volunteering to stuff envelopes, put hangers on doors, answering phone calls or attending rallies, contributing money or numerous other activities. Active can mean a lot of things, but it doesn’t have to include directly trying to persuade people to support your candidate. That can be a part of being active in the process, but there may be some issues discussed that make you angry. Knowing your own personal boundaries when it comes to anger or frustration is important. Be aware of your temptations so you can avoid sinning. Being angry isn’t a sin in itself, but it can lead to sin without some level of self-control discipline and forgiveness.
Here are some verses with some solid teaching about anger:
Proverbs 14:29 “Whoever’s slow to anger has great understanding. But he who has a hasty temper, exalts folly.”
Proverbs 15:1 “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word, stirs up anger.”
James 1:19-20 “Know this my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger. For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
So how can we make sure that we’re slow to anger? What triggers you to be angry, frustrated, worried, or fearful? You may want to consider avoiding these things during the political season. Or you can decide ahead of time what you will do if you find yourself in a situation that provokes these reactions.
Avoiding people is not really an option if we’re trying to make disciples, but avoiding conversations about political topics may be the right thing to do. Decide now to remain neutral in your responses. Decide now which topics that you can change to if you encounter a conversation headed down the political path. Pick topics like vacation destinations, weather, work projects, new restaurants in your area, school activities, or anything else to help you change the subject.
Decide now to suspend judgment on neighbors who put signs in their yard that support the other candidate. Be gracious to people driving cars with bumper stickers for the opposing candidate. Let them have the parking spot. Let them cut into your lane. Wave to the pedestrian in the crosswalk that is wearing a t-shirt for the other candidate. Pray for them. Choose to love people, no matter who they support.
For some people, their temptations lead them to avoid news coverage during a political season. Keep in mind, the media’s goal is to get you to watch or listen to them as long as possible. The more you watch and listen, the more they can quantify their reach to advertisers. Which can result in more revenue for them.
They will share news and information, but it isn’t always accurate or trustworthy with a variety of filters in play from the stations leaders, or even the individual reporters. They use soundbites to spark fear or anger and draw you in to watch the show. It’s human nature to gravitate in that direction and the enemy, The real enemy… would love for you to camp out there. I encourage you to decide now what you want to do to make sure that you’re not fearful and that you’re not being led to sin from being angry or frustrated.
Maybe you’re not talking to someone, but you’re watching people argue over issues and it provokes you to anger. Maybe you should skip that part. Do you need to limit your viewing and other ways? Skip the debates, turn off the news, turn the channel, or fast forward during certain parts. Decide now when you should step back and what you will do as an alternative. Talk to Jesus about it. See what he says is best for you.
Being informed on why you’re voting the way you’re voting can help you be prepared to answer questions from others and lower the risk of turning the conversation into a debate. What scriptures or Bible principles are you basing your decisions on? When you trust God, trust his promises and power to work together the outcome of an election for good. You don’t have to feel like you need to convince anyone on how to vote. Knowing your own reasons to explain why you’re choosing to support a candidate or issue can help keep the conversation more personal in nature. It focuses on your feelings or reasoning rather than opposing someone or telling them why you think they should think differently. There’s a big difference between explaining your why and trying to convince someone to agree with you.
When you feel furious… Turn curious. Ask questions to try and understand. We don’t know why someone feels the way they do. There may be a personal story, a trauma, a family connection that you may not be aware. Being a listening ear, a friend or just showing someone that you care about what they’re saying could go a long way and giving you the opportunity to talk to that person again in the future. It could even give you a chance to minister to someone in a very unexpected way.
Take a moment to think about the last time you won an argument with your spouse, friend, a coworker, sibling or parent. You may have proved your point or gotten your view across. Did you really win? Was the relationship with the other person damaged? Did it feel awkward afterwards? You can be right and have the best answers and the most knowledge about what is best for the people in the us. But the moment, the person you’re talking to feels unloved, not heard, not seen or feels angered or frustrated, it increases the chances that they’ll pull away from you. They could feel feel hurt by you or decide that they don’t want to be around you. They can also think that all Christians act this way.
You can still be right and have strong views and beliefs, but can we really risk not being able to continue the conversation with people when we know that they don’t know Jesus yet? What’s more important: Being right or someone being saved? The good news is you have it within your control for both things to be true. You can be right and if you handle your reactions well, you can minister to someone and point them in the direction of Jesus.
When we look at Jesus’s example, people started following him because he made them feel loved, heard, seen. He gave them hope and peace and served people as a gentle and wise teacher. There was no fear coming from him or the disciples. Jesus didn’t force someone to change their mind. He wanted people to choose him of their own free will. He could have easily gone down the fear or forceful path considering he had a direct connection to the creator of the whole world and everything in it. Can you imagine if he had started throwing around narrative about follow me or else? Jesus was a peacemaker and guided people to make the decision to follow him by their own choice. This is what we should be doing this political season.
Let’s all work together as a Christian community to make sure that we’re acting responsible as Americans and as representatives of the kingdom of God. We need to do our research and get involved and be active with candidates and issues that we’re passionate about. And let’s be sure that we’re loving others that don’t think like we do in an effort to have the opportunity to introduce them to Jesus.
