Reflections

When I was growing up, my mother, like many others across the country, had a rule that at the dinner table you could not discuss religion or politics. Because both religion and politics carry so much importance in our lives, we can become very passionate about them to the point of argument, anger, and division, even among family. I know of a man who has not spoken to his brother in eight years because of a political argument that got ugly and created hurt and resentment. I know of a woman who got fired from her job because she kept bringing up touchy political topics and creating chaos at work. I had a parishioner ten years ago who left the parish because I would not agree to endorse a political candidate from the pulpit.

I’ve been reading two really interesting books lately that do much, in my opinion, to give clarity and guidance to Christian people in the midst of the current political upheaval in our country. The first book is titled, “The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory” by Tim Alberta, a staff writer for the Atlantic, and perhaps more importantly, a man raised by a father who was the lead pastor at a very large evangelical Christian church that began to tear at the seams over issues of presidential politics. Alberta takes us through the beginnings of the “Moral Majority”, to Ralph Reed’s “Faith and Freedom Coalition”, and into the many large evangelical congregations where senior clergy are using their pulpits to shape and control people for the sake of hardnosed politics.

The second book is a bit more philosophical in nature, but enormously helpful for taking the knowledge gained in Alberta’s book and applying it in a way that reflects the nature and character of Christ. This book is titled, “Love Your Enemies” by Arthur C. Brooks, who headed the American Enterprise Institute, and now teaches at Harvard. Brooks is a Christian, and a conservative, but is deeply concerned about what he calls a “culture of contempt.” What he means by this is that we are living in a highly politicized culture where we cannot simply agree to disagree over political issues, but must hold those with whom we disagree in utter contempt. It seems that all political disagreement these days is advanced with high-pitched rhetoric that not only diminishes the

argument of those with whom we disagree, but diminishes the people with whom we disagree. If someone takes the opposite position on the issue of immigration, abortion, Israel, or any number of other hot topics, we seem unable to engage reasonably or respectfully. We must, rather, regard them as “stupid” or “evil,” and utterly unworthy of our respect and care. This book has real depth for Christians, and calls us to seek to love those with whom we disagree by listening to what they have to say, seeking earnestly to understand their prospective, and then disagreeing, if we do, in a way that maintains respect for them as fellow human beings. I would sum up the book as encouraging us, when we find ourselves in a political disagreement, to see the other person as more important than the issue at hand. No one was ever convinced to change their perspective because of an argument.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus, on the night before His crucifixion, prayed a very long prayer for His followers (John 17), and the heart of that prayer was that we might “all be one.” That above everything else, there would be a unity among those who follow Him, a unity that finds its’ roots in love. As the United States continues to tear itself apart over political arguments of one kind or another, how might the Christian Church set a different tone? How could we act as the Presence of a Living Lord, reflecting His Grace and Love, in the midst of such hatred and division? Perhaps by refusing to be drawn into it; by not allowing those on my side of the argument to get away with hateful language toward those on the other side; by disagreeing in such a way that it honors Christ by loving the person with whom I disagree. What would American politics look like if all American Christians, of every denomination, refused to play the game of hate ?