PART 2—The Election Probably Won’t Be Over on November 3 (and How Churches Can Respond)

• We Never Get A Free Pass To Be Unkind—Even When Others Have Been So To Us 

For those of us who are Christ-followers, here’s a principle to inform and guide our response: No matter what we feel led to do or say, no matter what person or policies we feel we’re supposed to support, not support, or fight against, no matter how unfairly attacked we are, we must look like Jesus in all our interactions. Period.

There is nothing in scripture that allows us to set aside the fruits of the Spirit just because we’re concerned about the direction of our country. There is no “out” in scripture for not being a person of love, no matter how provoked you are. And as my friend David French points out, the end never justifies the means, no matter how alarming a situation might be or how tempting it is to think otherwise. 

There’s simply no exception to the rule of Jesus. 

Yes, let’s vigorously support the direction, people and policies we feel led to support. But let’s think just as vigorously, every day, about whether any of our words or actions could bring dishonor to the name of Jesus. Instead of being the light of the world, is there anything that we are doing that might move beyond disagreement and deepen the darkness by spreading division and discord? Again, that’s not to say that we can’t share what we feel we’re supposed to share or stand up for what we believe is right. God calls us as Christians to do those things at times. But how we do it is of critical importance—and the bottom line is, we never get a free pass to become harsh or hateful.

Some people have brought up the clear Biblical example of Jesus seeming to “lose it” in His anger at the injustice of money changers extorting the poor in the temple. One person told me something like, “If Jesus can turn over the money changers’ tables in His anger at their wrong, I can certainly post angry rants on Facebook.” And just to be clear: I can’t tell you not to!  No one knows but the Lord knows exactly where deep concern becomes real unkindness. Everyone has to go to God for themselves and get guidance on what they should do and not do. 

Yet for the record, in case it helps, read the story of what Jesus actually did, in Mark 11:11-15. You’ll see that what might come across as “losing it,” was actually not an impulse. Jesus may well have been angry, but He wasn’t having a knee-jerk reaction to anger in the moment. He had actually gone to the temple late in the day the day before, had seen what was going on, and decided to come back the next day. Probably because there would be far more people there to see the statement He was about to make. Perhaps, like Jesus, there may be times when we need to have a more planned, pointed response rather than a reactionary one.