I have recently begun to consider the polarized, political environment plaguing my college years. My freshman year of college started in the fall of 2020. Schools had just reopened since COVID, BLM protests were continuing to sweep across the nation, the 2020 election was in full swing, and conservatives and liberals seemed to no longer have any common ground at all. Since I leaned towards the democratic side, I, along with many others, resented republicans, even in my Christian circles.
After two years in college, I’ve been forced to grapple with the fact that I have a few very, lovely people around me who are staunchly on the opposite side of the political spectrum than myself. Social media would sometimes make me feel guilty for pursuing friendships with them since it often equated political perspectives with morality. Yet, as a Christian, I knew God called me to live in fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. We may have different political perspectives, but we have the same theological beliefs, and that’s what matters … right? Something still felt wrong. How could I reconcile those with different political beliefs when my political views stemmed from my faith and understanding of the person of Jesus? For example, I supported socialized healthcare because I could not grapple with the thought of someone dying from an incredibly treatable disease simply because they could not hand over enough printed paper. To me, these were Christian values. I sought to advocate for the poor, the marginalized and those who could not fight for themselves as Jesus would. So how could I reconcile with my conservative friends when I felt their political beliefs directly opposed our shared faith?
I thought back to the political environment in which Jesus entered. The Jews, under the subjugation of the Roman Empire, believed wholeheartedly that their Savior would be a military leader who would overthrow the secular Roman Empire and establish a holy nation in which the Biblical worldview would reign supreme. Because they were so focused on a Savior in the political realm, they missed Jesus in plain sight. I started to feel a tug on my heart. Was I focusing so much on living out my faith from a political perspective that I forgot to live it out in my life? Who had Jesus called to follow him? Well, he reached out to a tax collector who became wealthy by exploiting the poor. He also called a zealot, a member of the political movement which sought to incite the Jews to rebel against the Roman Empire and take ownership of the Holy Land through violent confrontation. Simon the Zealot personally intrigued me as he was part of a political special-interest group. Yet, Jesus did not call him to fulfill this political goal but to spread the Gospel and love and serve others regardless of the political conditions. The story of Simon began to shift my perspective.
I started trying to take a kingdom perspective, learning to live in the tension of the here and not yet. Ultimately, my home, and all my fellow Christians, is not of this world but in the new heaven and earth. I felt a pull from God to shift my perspective to His plan, the ultimate salvation of His people, and the restoration of His Creation, rather than focusing so much here and now on the political environment in my country. I did not think my political focus was necessarily wrong, as I sought to represent the rights of those for who I believed Jesus would fight. Likewise, I did not think Simon was wrong in wanting to advocate for political freedom and a Holy Nation, but I do believe he and I were missing the big picture. Jesus told us the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40). I’m learning to change my approach toward politics. I’m learning not to buy into the polarization and identify everyone around me by their political leanings but by their identity in Christ. How can we exemplify Christ and serve the world when we are so divided? When my political perspectives start to alienate me from other Christians in my circle, especially those I love and respect, I feel that tug on my heart again to take that kingdom perspective.
This has not necessarily changed my political opinions, but it has changed the way I hold them. Instead of identifying with a political party, I seek to pursue the path I believe Jesus would take issue by issue. Ultimately, I believe that, as Christians, we must toe the line between partisan polarization. We ultimately cannot fully identify ourselves with one party because the simple answer is that Jesus would not have done this. Jesus did not identify himself with a political side at all. Instead, Jesus healed people, provided for the poor, welcomed the immigrant and the sojourner, elevated the marginalized, and preached the Gospel so that all may know his perfect grace and salvation.
So, Christian, I encourage you to walk this line of being in the world and not of it. I encourage you to inspect your political leanings. We live in a country where we are privileged to have a voice in our government. While it is not as simple as thinking, “What would Jesus do?” When approaching the ballot box, and exercising our civil duties, I believe we should seek to “speak up for the people who have no voice, for the rights of all the misfits. Speak out for justice! Stand up for the poor and the destitute!” (Proverbs 31:8-9). Sometimes, this may mean sacrificing our desires and voting for a reform that may take our tax dollars out of our pockets but will better support those who can’t support themselves. And, when our government fails to serve the marginalized, let us Christians tangibly fill the gap, no matter how we individually voted.
Our time here is fleeting; we look forward to a world where all things are made new. Let us live our lives sacrificially towards those around us and reject the temptation to increase the polarized divide that politics has drawn. I pray our worldview and perception of each other will continue to decrease in its political identity and increase in its kingdom identity and that our political participation will arise from this kingdom perspective rather than partisanship.