But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Ephesians 2:13-16
On the American religious front, our dividing wall of hostility (or perhaps it is better to say “one of our walls”) does not come in the form of religious zeal vs. pagan lawlessness, but is rather erected between firmly-held and energetically-defended political territories.
Unfortunately, what has happened within the Church…and by Church I am referring to orthodox, Bible-believing followers of Jesus (not self-proclaimed “Christians” who have abandoned truth for tolerance and misconstrued justice along the lines of personal agenda and fairness)…what has happened has not maintained unity. As Christians who care deeply about political issues in America, we unfortunately have been participating in an ongoing construction campaign of the very walls of hostility the Gospel tears down. We talk past each other from our quick-to-speak hearts rather than seek to understand our brothers and sisters on the other side of the wall. And we’ve determined that we are right to do so because the walls we have built protect us. There is an ironic sense of safety behind this wall of division and hostility.
We must ask the questions: Is it really God’s best for my political positions to prevent charity towards and dialogue with someone with whom I disagree? Is that really as good as life gets after the shed blood of Jesus Christ redeemed sinners from death and condemnation? Is the only thing God requires of me until Glory that I would “agree to disagree” with brothers and sisters of a different political position?
Objectively, in light of Scripture, we must of course answer, “NO!” It doesn’t mean we abandon our convictions or stop casting our votes for politicians we trust to lead the country well. But it does mean that when our political convictions build walls of hostility that we are choosing a personal conviction over the revealed will of God for the Body of Christ.
One of the most grievous things that I carry as a Christian in American is that we are much better at identifying this tendency in the “other side” than we are in ourselves. Our tendency is to walk around with giant political planks in our eyes seeking to remove specks from our “misinformed” brothers and sisters who hold to a different political position. Sadly, most of us are not seeing clearly enough to do so with charity and nuance, because we have not recognized our own blindspots and the preferences which cloud our judgment. By and large, we are culturally-conditioned to lean one way or another, and to fail to admit and acknowledge that will only breed defensiveness and emotionalism rather than objectivity and resolution.
I want to use an illustration from my own side of the wall as someone who typically spends time with conservatives and would consider myself economically conservative but unaffiliated when it comes to social issues (mainly because I haven’t read enough to know what libertarians or other groups believe to know where I actually “fit”).
A few years back, a brother in Christ posted a message on Facebook that essentially said, “It is impossible to be both a Christian and a Democrat.” I understood him to be making this statement based almost exclusively upon the issue of abortion.
Now, abortion is the most-easily attackable social issue in America for the conservative, if you ask me, because science is on the side of the Pro-Life person. At conception, a human life is formed needing only time to develop into a fully-functioning image bearer of God Almighty. To abort a fetus is to kill a human being. There is no longer any scientific ambiguity that can safeguard the Pro-Choice position. Biology is conclusive.
Needless to say, I am sympathetic to a degree with my brother’s statement. It seems impossible for a person to identify with Christ AND be ok with the termination of a human life. I would want all of my progressive brothers and sisters to do the research and consider the implications of electing politicians who advocate for a woman’s right to end the life of her unborn child. I do believe there is some moral culpability for taking part in electing a politician who passes pro-choice legislation.
However, my brother’s statement drastically oversimplifies what it means to be Democrat and dramatically underestimates the importance of social issues other than abortion (and maybe traditional marriage…and gender issues).
I want to speak to two things that are obviously wrong with his statement:
- There are in fact tens of thousands of Christians who align with the Democratic party in America. To reject this notion is essentially to sentence tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people to Hell who have in fact been regenerated by the Holy Spirit by believing upon Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.
- If we are to be fair, there are thoughtful, politically-minded Christians who vote Democrat who would justifiably be able to say the same thing to Republicans who identify as Christians… “it is impossible to be both Christian and a Republican.”
For me to pronounce that kind of judgment upon thousands and thousands of people for holding a political position does not make me a prophet…it makes me narrow-minded and wrong. From an ivory tower of isolation behind a rebuilt wall of Gospel-demolished hostility, I have made determinations about a person’s eternity without all the data…in fact I’m lacking in even basic data that ought to soften my heart and produce charity and dialogue. Perhaps we can just simply say that instead of erecting a wall, I should ask the person how he holds the tension between being a Christian and a Democrat in light of the issue of abortion. A born again believer who is submitting all of life to the Scriptures will have to wrestle with this. But we can never assume that God must be dead in that man’s heart because I am seeing so clearly on one of a thousand social issues that as a Christian I should care deeply about. Again, that’s arrogance, not prophecy.
As I wrap up, I realize that my second statement could be startling or misunderstood. How can a Christian who votes Democrat condemn a so-called Christian who votes Republican? Because abortion is not the only social issue in America destroying human life, and Democrats care better and more deeply about some important issues than Republicans do.
I’ll just name one: mass incarceration. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/09/06/incarceration-gap-between-whites-and-blacks-widens/
How is this destroying lives? The stats don’t lie. Entire communities of color are being thrown into jail, not because minorities are by their very nature more violent and criminal, but because of the way the system is set up in America. Go listen to Richard Nixon talk about American prisons and African Americans in the documentary Thirteenth on Netflix. It’s both absurd to think that lives aren’t being destroyed by mass incarceration AND absurd to think that this issue effects less people than abortion. I’d just invite anyone reading to go do a little research while asking the question “why are the numbers so drastically one-sided?”
If you conclude that minorities are simply more violent and criminal, you have rejected their status as image bearers of God…and you are in a real and dangerous way rejecting the Jesus you’re claiming to stand for by calling for abortion to be outlawed and Planned Parenthood to be shut down.
This is why political camps serve only to build walls of hostility. The Gospel is the only hope for a divided America, not conservativism, not liberalism, not socialism. We aren’t going to see revival in our country by preserving or restoring a Moral Majority. We don’t need morality. We need the Holy Spirit to move in our midst bringing repentance and holiness.
The Church should be the place where God’s demolition work is displayed brightly as a prophetic word against culture at large. But instead we grab our saws and hammers and rebuild what the blood of Christ has torn down.
Brothers and sisters, let’s refuse to be a part of that building project. The hostility is put under by the blood of Christ. It’s time for charity, dialogue, understanding, and unity…not ignoring truth or doctrine or convictions, but neither thinking to be wise in our own eyes as giant planks blind us to realities and prevent reconciliation and unity.
Jesus has secured something far better for us than that.
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