I dislike politics. I always have. Some people, I know, love debating and studying policy, have minds that are fascinated by implications of precedent or economics, and find great delight in watching CSPAN. I am not one of them. There are topics I will talk about and engage with opposing views on long into the night. But politics is not one of them.
But even with those feelings—I have been wrestling for the last several years with something that, sadly, has become increasingly political: how we engage the world, our culture, and our government as Christians. And this is where the political world collides with one of those things I do deeply care about, think about, and talk about: discipleship.
In the Bible, we are given an all-inclusive, whole-of-life picture of discipleship. Jesus does not want a segment of your heart, mind, soul, and life. He wants to be Lord of all of it. So, we must continually revisit and prayerfully examine what faithful, discipleship-oriented engagement with our world looks like. We need to make sure we are thinking Christianly above, beyond, and before we think as a member of a particular political party. To do this, I believe we need to continually develop a Jesus-vision of the world and seek to adopt ever-more-clearly the biblical imagination for the Kingdom of God.
A quick note here. We’d have to dive a bit deeper to explore the various views Christians have and have had about the relationship between Christianity and culture, but we’ll save that for another time. To be brief, I would just say that it’s important to note that there is a diversity of views on this question based on time, place, and theological tradition, so I urge humility and careful consideration. Don’t assume your understanding is the only Christian view.
I do not want to discuss specific policies or candidates in this place or time. If you’re ever in my neck of the woods, I’d be happy to sit down and chat with you sometime. But I would like to provide what I think are some helpful practices to make sure we’re thinking Christianly first and foremost as we engage in this current social and political moment.
Read your Bible. If you care about how God thinks about these issues, you need to read his Word. Spend time in the Gospels, carefully reading what Jesus taught and how He modeled the Kingdom of God. Spend time with other New Testament writers, carefully studying how they understood and applied these teachings of Jesus in their context. Another great place to study is the prophets—we get a strong picture of the character of God and the things He cares about.
As you read, do not cherry pick. Do not look for “proof texts” to back up what you already think. This is not a responsible or respectful way to read the Bible. Try to come to the Scripture humbly, praying for God to teach you, and spend time deeply and systematically studying the Bible. The Bible wasn’t written in the context of the 21st century, but it is still applicable to our time and place. Focus first on understanding the character of God, the picture of the Kingdom, etc., and then use those truths and principles and that biblical imagination of the world to consider how they apply to today.
Do your study and thinking in community. There is incredible value in studying the Bible on your own—please do this. But this cannot be done in isolation, and it should not be done in an echo chamber. We do ourselves a grave disservice if we only read and listen to voices much like our own. Pay attention to who you are listening to. Do they come from your tradition, do they share all of your views, do they have a similar life experience? Similarity is not bad. But only listening to or building relationships with people like us allows us to lose sight of the bigger picture, makes us even blinder to our blindspots, and, frankly, undermines the beautiful diversity we find within God’s Kingdom.
As you think through the biblical picture for how Christians are to engage with the world, make sure you take time to read, study, and think with people who are in some way unlike yourself. Read and listen to writers, theologians, and pastors who are from a different time, place, culture, socio-economic status, race, gender, political party, or theological tradition than you. You don’t have to agree with everything they say. But engage with them humbly and honestly. I guarantee they will have something to teach you, some way to expand your understanding of God, and some way to challenge a blindspot you didn’t know existed.
Pay attention to what you consume. Here, again, we need to talk about echo chambers. There is great strength in hearing from a diversity of voices. It provides a broader view of an issue, helps you truly understand someone else’s opinion, and (again) helps you to avoid your own blindspots. Read, listen to, and watch media sources that come from a different perspective than you typically hold.
Pay attention to your sources—is this source reputable, what sort of authority or expertise do these people bring to this issue, is this source peer-reviewed, what sort of evidence or logic is being presented, how do they engage with alternate opinions?
Also, pay attention to the effects of what you consume. Does this person or media source encourage me to think critically, engage with others, and approach other views with calmness or kindness? Do do they stoke up anger and fear? Does this help to cultivate the fruit of the spirit in my life? Does this challenge my thinking or add to my perspective on the world, or does it encourage me to dig my heels deeper into my own particular corner? Does this help as I seek to love God and love my neighbor?
Build relationships with and have conversations with people in real life. Social media can be a valuable tool. But I have yet to be convinced it is the best medium for having difficult, honest, humble, constructive conversations with people of different views. (If you have seen this work out positively, please, I’d love to hear your story.) Instead, I typically see lots of snark and sarcasm, unfair representations of opposing viewpoints, and words much more harsh and cruel than most would ever speak face-to-face.
Learn to have these conversations in person. Learn to listen carefully. Learn to treat and speak of those who see the world differently than you with kindness and charity. Try to genuinely understand where someone is coming from, and learn to represent their perspective well, even if you don’t agree with it. Build real relationships with people who think differently than you, and learn from them.
Practice and develop good, empathetic critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is something I increasingly see as a skill that needs to be developed. It takes practice. With this in mind, it could be worth practicing with an issue or disagreement that is simpler and less emotionally charged, to get this approach into your mental muscle memory.
I’m sure there are people who have done much more work with this than I have, so at the risk of oversimplifying things, here are a few good starting points. Take time and care to understand the various viewpoints on an issue, to the extent that you could articulate a view different from your own in a way someone who holds that view would consider accurate and fair. Understand why that person holds the belief they do—most people have reasonable or at least understandable justifications of their opinions.
Only once you have a clear understanding of the view at hand, consider it from your own perspective. How does it align with your beliefs and the way you see the world? Is there anything (even if small) you can agree with or empathize with? Then consider what you disagree with—and why? Learn to articulate this using a clear-headed explanation and explain why you disagree based on your worldview.
Too often we approach diverging views fueled by emotions or more eager to make our “opponent” appear evil or less intelligent. This is not helpful critical thinking, and I do not believe it embodies Christian character. We don’t need to live in fear of different opinions, as if hearing someone out will corrupt us. And we do ourselves no good to respond to different opinions with defensiveness or personal attacks.
Approaching complex issues in the way I’ve described will help you to see the complex facets of an issue, practice empathy even if you don’t agree with someone, and will help you to better understand and articulate your own opinions. It also gives you a continual opportunity to reexamine and rearticulate your understanding of how to approach various issues as a faithful disciple of Jesus.
Friends, hear me. I know that this is hard, and I know this process can make us uncomfortable. I’m on this journey with you, trying day by day to faithfully reflect and follow Jesus. We are living in a divisive world. And, in America, the fray will only become more vicious as we enter another political cycle. Be prepared. Be self-reflective. Be prayerful. My deepest desire for all of us who claim the name of Christ is that we could represent our Lord Jesus well before a watching world.
