Seven ways to be an untoxic Christian during a toxic presidential campaign

4. Find something to honor and care about in your opponents

The most disarming thing that happens to me online is when the conservatives I argue with show me that they actually care about my life. I’ve had health issues and various struggles in my personal life that I’ve been open about. People who actually notice and care about those things have a lot more credibility with me when they give me critical feedback than the piranhas who only swoop into my timeline when I say something that contradicts their orthodoxy. Of course, it shouldn’t be about credibility anyway. As Christians, our ultimate goal is to fill the world with love, not to win political arguments. If we’re going to talk about love ideologically by saying something like “Love trumps hate” but we don’t actually practice love when we’re talking to our enemies, then we are miserable hypocrites.