Is There A Real Place For Political Diversity?
DOES THE WESTSIDE VINEYARD PROVIDE A PLACE WHERE THOSE WHO VOTE REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT CAN FULLY BELONG IN COMMUNITY... AND FIND RESPECT?
Any reference to a political person, party, or position... creates a moment when we can find ourselves in a divide... a potential divide that is all the more significant because it’s within the very community in which it is essential that we know we can truly belong ...with genuine respect and care.
While I don’t presume I can resolve all the tensions, it may be helpful to try and clarify what I believe are valuable principles to guide us in how we relate to political choices and one another.
The 2020 election became one of the most polarized in our lifetimes, with legitimately strong issues raised regarding some aspects of what either candidate represented. By the day of the election, I was struck by the significance of what it meant to declare that “Jesus is our King.” When we allow our spirit to declare that “Jesus is my King” there is a freedom that comes with it. Regardless of who may get my vote, they will not get my allegiance. I do not have to accept evil as good and good as evil, in whatever way it may be manifest in the policies or persons who I may choose to vote for. It is this declaration of distinction which I believe brings freedom in how we can navigate some of the underlying challenges to both our unity and witness.
FREEDOM TO DIFFER IN VOTING WHILE MAINTAINING UNITY IN OUR CENTRAL VALUES
Voting should involve a process of thoughtfully weighing God’s heart across multiple relevant issues... including both the multiple positions a candidate may express...as well as their nature as a person and leader. This is certainly a process by which one can and should gain perspective from their pastors (those entrusted with their spiritual lives) and fellow Christ following friends, but because any party or particular political figure represents multiple elements in their positions and nature, ultimately each individual must follow their personal conscience... and this involves what elements one believes will have the most practical impact ...and how the nature of their leadership will influence the common good. This means it’s quite possible for two people to share very similar convictions about an issue...but ultimately make a different choice in voting because of other issues involved. This means that we can belong in a community that hears God’s heart on issues which may not align well with who we ultimately support, but it can be understood that any such issue was only a part of what was involved in our choice. Some may deem something on the “other side” to be bear something so evil that they cannot understand how others could stand in support of such. In such cases we do well to consider that others may see some issues on “our side” of the choice in a similar light. We do well to consider that the different “sides” represent so many issues... and even changing dynamics...and should never be deemed to simply “represent” ourselves or others in any simplistic or complete way.
It is with this understanding that I can sincerely respect those who may tend to vote Republican, Democrat, or for third party choices. In the more controversial 2020 election, the nature and actions of President Trumps were deemed dangerous and damaging by many. However, he clearly gave support to three significant positions which conservative Evangelicals have valued: support for changing the legal status of abortion in the future through judges, support for Israel, and support for some forms of religious freedom. He has also led in directives many would find substantially different than his opposition. Someone could identify aspects of his nature which they would not affirm or defend... while believing that various positions he supported mattered most. The underlying point is that I believe this could be true of every candidate. We must accept that voting is fundamentally an expression of how each of us accepts we are never doing anything more than deciding significantly imperfect choices ...rather than expressing our moral allegiance. As a community, we may disagree with one another’s priorities, but welcome those differences. So let me emphasize... I welcome and can respect those who have voted for different candidates.
FREEDOM FROM THE FALSE PRESUMPTIONS THAT CULTURAL WARS CAN BRING
When we can declare in our spirit’s that Christ is our King, we can find freedom from being bound or beholden by the powers of any human governance. We do well to consider how Jesus confronted and transformed the whole narrative of those he first called. They had presumed that God wanted to restore their national identity by providing a new warrior king... who would sit on an earthly throne as the previous King David had. Jesus transformed them by his very nature of announcing a new kingdom of which he was the King of all... whose focus was not on an earthly nation. The role of a religious nation, of a theocracy, was being transcended. As a result, his followers became those who brought transformation to the Roman Empire (and the western world) through their own alternative allegiance to Christ and his call to live and love one another in such a way that the “world would know that he was from God.” Their allegiance was defiant... but it understood that it did not rely on political or physical force.
Over time, as forms of “the church” became officially recognized, the role of alliances with earthly kings and the subsequent use of force arose...but it became clear that it could only be understood and justified as necessary in serving or protecting the common good and would prove dangerous if such force was understood as either representing or establishing God’s Kingdom. As participants in a democracy, we operate in a new dynamic... by which we as citizens have a form of power... that of being equal participants in some decisions...but it remains vital that we understand the same underlying distinctions between the Kingdom of God and the governing of a nation. The Kingdom of God comes through the reception of the human heart to the reign and rule of God. This can then be manifested in justice and righteousness.
When we think of changing a culture for the good, it’s vital to consider that there is both the power of winning control as well as the power of influence on the minds and hearts of people... which will ultimately affect the direction of the future and its majority. When “culture wars” emphasize the need to win control... more than actually influence lives... they will elicit resentment and resistance, particularly in the next generation.
We do well to consider what Jesus both modeled and taught regarding leading the way of change. Jesus said, “The religious leaders “tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them” (Matthew 23:3-4), and "those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them...Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:42-44)
This does not mean that we shouldn’t speak up for what we believe will serve the common good. It means that how we speak up matters ... and arguably in the most lasting way. Only by embracing respect will we open hearts to receive. Only by embracing a commitment to truth will we establish and expand trust.
In these ways, we can overcome some of the false presumptions of the “culture wars” that have proven to neither serve the church nor the potentially righteous causes themselves. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. described, “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool.” And like Christ and those who began to bring change to the world, it must come with being those who “become the change” ... who are a prophetic voice and a prophetic presence. We must not allow the ends to justify the means. If we seek control more than influence... we will reap resentment and resistance to the change we seek. If we sow hate... and bear false testimony... we will find that we have turned hearts away from God... including our own.
FREEDOM FROM GIVING UNDUE ALLEGIANCE AND UNCONTENDED ASSOCIATIONS
While political policies can have some lasting impact, recent history has shown how they can also be reversed with every shift in power. What is arguably most lasting in its influence is the associations that develop in the minds and hearts of people... particularly younger lives for whom their first and only associations with “Christianity” are being formed in these years. We must consider the cost of making or allowing associations between any earthly political party or figure...and the distinct nature of Christ. If we are not explicit about the distinctions... we are creating an association between Christianity and what may be deemed offensive within the sphere of political culture.
We are currently experiencing a turning from Christianity in our nation that is unprecedented. Younger unchurched lives are finding nothing compelling about Christianity... millennials raised in the church are “deconstructing” their faith... and a shocking number of faithful pastors and leaders are feeling lost ...often by the degree of allegiance and acceptable associations with political powers that they are experiencing in the Christian culture.
What I think is worth considering, across all these lives... is that they are not turning away from anything about Christ....but rather about “Christianity” ...about what is associated with Christian culture. I believe that is worthy of pausing upon... as it speaks loudly... of both a problem...and of hope.
Fewer lives seem compelled by what they see and hear, to believe that Christianity is true and good. Some things they associate with Christianity don’t sound true (i.e., correspond with reality) ...and some don’t sound good (i.e., to their moral sense of what is fair and just). That is why it is so vital that we consider what associations may come with the various political positions or figures that we may support. We must show that we can distinguish between supporting a position or person...from supporting that which may be associated with superiority, hate, discrimination, and lack of truth.
Our distinction as citizens of God’s Kingdom must not be lost. If we embrace the freedom to limit our allegiance to any political party or person, we can find freedom to not only see both what is good and bad...but acknowledge it... without a need to defend it or downplay it. This allows us to maintain greater integrity in what we convey to others, whether family, friends, or the wider watching world.
In conclusion, I believe that we can find freedom when we can learn from one another’s assessments and prioritizing in voting... while respecting one another’s personal conscience in weighing overall decisions. I believe that we can find freedom when we understand our fundamental distinction from any political party, position, or public servant in such a way that we can freely identify and address what may be unacceptable to us in aspects of their positions or nature. This allows us to belong in Christ-centered community in which we allow God’s Word to speak ...even when it may challenge some aspect of our political associations, knowing that such challenges do not judge the whole of which party or person we may choose in light of the larger issues involved. This freedom finds it’s potential in our ability to declare in our spirits that “Jesus is my King.”