If we are people of faith, then our beliefs will shape our viewpoints. That’s a given. But does that necessarily mean that our mutual faith will lead to matching opinions on all topics?
I didn’t think so.
It’d be a bold assumption for me to decide that everyone who shares my faith always shares my politics – across the board. Turning the tables, it’d be bold for you to do the same.
And yet it happens. All the time.
Hold it right there.
This is a risky post. The last thing I want to do is to hurt someone’s feelings, especially someone with whom I have shared the warm circle of friendship. Please let me begin by clearly stating that I am not singling anyone out here. And at times, I may be preaching to the mirror. (I’m pretty good at that. I’ve had plenty of practice in that department.)
Throughout the past few years (or maybe more than that), American politics seem to have grown more heated and controversial than ever before. Differences of opinion spring swiftly into spite and hatred. Mutual respect has all but vanished across society.
This quagmire is not even restricted to our choices of electoral candidates. We may differ on individual issues, whether we know it or not. That’s sort of how democracy works.
There are plenty of issues that attract genuine believers to both (or all) sides. Even in small circles of faith, folks may hold varying viewpoints. But what can be simply astonishing is that others may assume everyone around the table agrees on all counts of politics and policies, just because we all aim to be biblical Christians.
We may not all be far right, left wing, or smack dab in the middle – even though we love Jesus.
How does that play out, during faith-based gatherings and throughout the rest of the week?
Check your inbox. If it’s anything like mine, you’ll find handfuls (or even dozens) of messages from well-meaning Christian sisters/brothers, often including links to political and ideological posts. Maybe you nod your head in agreement. Perhaps you shake your head instead.
Look at your social networking pages. Are fellow believers tagging you in posts promoting their opinions? When you’re tagged, those posts appear on your own page. That means your friends and followers will also assume you support those viewpoints.
Think back a bit. Have you ever bitten your tongue during a faith group meeting, because the discussion traipsed off into politics, and you didn’t want to throw a wrench into the works? You knew you disagreed on some point, but you held your peace to keep the peace? Then you know the feeling.
It’s not like we can’t stay friends, if we disagree.
True fellowship can flourish in healthy diversity, if we get a chance to share it. Isn’t it a hallmark of mutual respect to hear one another out before assuming we buy into all of the same ideas in our society at-large?
This assumption has
proved particularly painful for me during the past year for multiple reasons. (Warning: I'm gonna get a little personal here. But I'm not pointing fingers at anyone else.)
- In the spring of 2020, as
the COVID-19 pandemic gained traction in the US, I spent several months
sewing 1,000+ cloth face-masks, mostly using fabrics from my own supply. Most went to health care workers, emergency personnel, senior care
facilities, and other local concerns. I also gave masks to friends and
family members. Soon, I began seeing social networking posts bashing
mask-wearing. Then a few folks to whom I had given home-sewn masks put
up anti-mask posts and tagged me. How can that not feel like a slap in the
face?
- Our extended family represents the full spectrum of political persuasions, and we value one another more than our viewpoints. Draw the family circle wider (from blood into water), so to speak, and the plot thickens. Some cannot share space because they do not share the same opinions. What happens when a friend posts online and tags me? At least one side of the schism will take offense, because of what that post implies, even if I don’t carry that bias.
- Several friends regularly send individual or group texts, private messages, and emails to support their political viewpoints. Because we are all family in the faith, they take it for granted these will be welcomed enthusiastically. Although I almost never respond, the snowball effect of receiving so many attacks on my own perspectives wounds my spirit.
- Once, I asked a fellow believer privately to “Please cease from tagging me online in political posts.” Not long afterwards, that friend tagged me again and critiqued me publicly online for that request.
I have to wonder, when might I have stepped on someone’s political principles by concluding he or she identified with the same policies or candidates as I did? Did I disregard anyone’s viewpoints, even inadvertently? Perhaps.
Do we make our fellowship of faith meetings (such as Bible studies, book groups, Sunday school classes, or other gatherings) safe places for everyone to explore and evaluate our own viewpoints? Or do we presuppose everyone will be on the same page – on every topic?
Definitely, there are basics on which we commit to agree.
That’s why we turn to Scripture on matters of doctrine. That’s where creeds and statements of faith come in. But present-day politics will not always fit into one rigid mold.
Here’s the bottom line for me. It’s threefold, and I think it’s basically biblical.
- Let’s leave the partisan assumptions at the door, when we get together as brethren. “But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.” (Titus 3:9-10, NIV)
- Let’s look forward together to sharing God’s Kingdom,
where there will be no ideological debates. “But our
citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the
Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20, NLT)
- Let’s aim for fellowship over favoring our own politics. “Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” (Romans 14:19, NRSV)
Oh, and let’s not tag each other until we have heard each other.
Jesus said the world would know we are Christians by our love for one another (see John 13:35), not which lever we pull (or which boxes we check) inside the voting booth. (See? There I go, preaching to the mirror again.)
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