James 3:9-10 warns us that with the same tongue we use to bless God on Sunday, we can curse people and run them down the rest of the week, even though they bear the image of God, just like us.
Politics in particular can bring the worst out of us, especially if we find ourselves drinking regularly from the firehose of all the media sources that represent “our side”.
So if we follow Christ, what can we do differently? Justin Giboney, co-founder of the AND Campaign in a training session with BridgeWay last fall, said (you can view the clip here):
“One of the biggest things I want Christians to try to do is understand that people are more than their vote. We tend to turn people into political abstractions, so if you’re voting for that guy, to me your whole existence is about that decision. But t it’s really not the whole of your humanity. And so even when you disagree with someone, even whether it’s a family member – they may be dead wrong on how they voted, or in some of their political perspectives – but they’re still more than that.”
Followers of Christ, of all people, should be able to do this. What we call “gospel thinking” reminds us that each of us has a common need (we’re each lost and broken by sin), and each of us has a common Savior who died for us, and so we each share in a common grace that we need to give to others.
Our political “enemies” won’t practice this. You’ll never find this principle in Saul Alinksky’s Rules for Radicals. But these are our marching orders, if we claim to follow the One who said from the Cross, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Here are some suggestions for practicing this discipline from the AND Campaign:
1. Listen Actively: Practice active listening to understand others’ perspectives without immediately formulating counterarguments.
2. Seek Common Ground: Identify shared values and common goals, even if you have differing opinions on specific issues.
3. Empathize: Put yourself in others’ shoes to understand their experiences, challenges, and motivations.