Cedars, October 2020

13 POLITICAL GRACE By Breanna Beers You can be a Republican and be a Christian. You can be a Democrat and be a Christian. Shocking, I know. It seems like every year it gets harder to accept that, especially given [insert whatever horrifying thing the other side did this week]. The latest outrage, however, is just a symptom of a deeper problem: the system itself is structured to incentivize and benefit from our polarized tribalism. The people in power want no one left sitting on the fence. Their careers rely on you picking a side (theirs), and once you do, they want you to be all in. Meanwhile, the media are not passive scribes but active participants. Anger has been shown to be the most viral emotion, and news organizations rely on your clicks to exist. These are not public institutions, but private companies, as subject as the rest of us are to the forces of capitalism. Of course, it’s not entirely their fault. Those aforementioned market forces are at least partially determined by you, the consumer. Those aforementioned people in power got there at least partially thanks to you, the voter. Here’s the thing: the system isn’t going to get any better, certainly not in time for this election. However, you can. Having conversations with people you disagree with has never been more difficult, but it has also never been more necessary. Why does it matter? Before we can even have these conversations, it’s important to set them in context. Here it is: Politics is not the be-all end-all the system wants you to think it is. Let us never confuse politics with the gospel. As Christians, we are commanded to many things, but politics is not one of them. Similarly, let us be wary of making what the government does more important than what we do. Who is in office is far less important than whether we love our enemies, care for outsiders, and speak the truth. If [insert issue] really matters, we’ll care about it with our actions, not just our opinions. Politics can be used to accomplish good ends. That’s why it matters. If we believe the Christian worldview truly speaks to all aspects of life, then that includes politics. However, the way we pursue politics has to be distinctly Christian, not just in terms of policy, but in terms of posture and practice. If we think we’re justified in using worldly tactics because it’s the only way to “win,” we’re missing the point. Voting is a privilege and a tool that most of the church has never had. You can certainly be a Christian without ever engaging in this area. But how can we be Christians while doing so? It starts with a term that has become the foundation for how I approach sensitive conversations: political grace. What is political grace? I first heard the term“political grace” from pastor Matt Whitman of the Ten Minute Bible Hour. It means exactly what it sounds like: extending grace within the realm of politics — specifically toward our political rivals. Grace means “unearned favor or generosity.” Applying that in politics means having a posture of goodwill toward the person who disagrees with me, even when they don’t deserve it. It requires me to assume that they are coming at the issue with genuine good intentions rather than ignorant or malicious ones. Will that assumption sometimes be wrong? Of course; it’s an assumption. But entering a conversation with guns blazing presupposes a battle that might not need to take place. If you imagine the worst of someone else in the way you respond to them, you will almost always receive what you expect. If you assume good intentions, the worst thing that can happen is that they respond to your courtesy with contempt. Ideology is not identity Political grace requires us to see a person as a person, rather than merely as a member of a particular team. By default, opinions are rarely allowed to stand on their own; every issue is ascribed all the baggage of belonging to a particular side. The moment you make a statement, I’m analyzing your words to determine if you’re on my team or “one of them.” Opinion has become ideology; ideology has become identity. As a result of this misconception, we often end up talking at each other instead of with each other. We imagine one another as Letter from the Editor: How to Be a Christian in an Election Season