The election is over - now what?!
Please Note - This article was originally written with the intention of posting it after the election was decided. However, with the rise of tensions and anxiety due to the extended nature of this year’s election, we have decided to go ahead and publish this post. We hope that this article will not only promote the fact that we need to show kindness and understanding, but also help others understand how they can do this while still disagreeing.
By the time you are reading this post, you will have learned if the candidate you voted for won or lost. Depending on the outcome of the election you may be feeling excitement or despair. This has been a season marked by polarizing and dehumanizing people based on their political leanings.
Social media has only added fuel to the fire of the “Us vs. Them” mindset. We have been led to believe that the way forward is picking a side and staying there. This has killed our ability to collaborate and work together for true progress and change.
After all, we are conditioned to pick a side and stay in our corner. This creates an echo chamber where we stay with people who think us and agree with our opinions. Andy Stanley said, “It’s easy to meet in the echo chambers of extremes where everyone agrees, but nothing is accomplished.”
How do we leave our echo chambers and become a bridge builder to those who differ than us?
1) See a person - not a political leaning or platform.
What if it’s not “us vs them,” it’s just “us”? How would that change the way we view and work with others? This happens when we understand that everyone is an image bearer of God - even those who you don’t see eye to eye with. We can’t build bridges when we have walled ourselves off from those we don’t align with us in an ideological way.
So, who are the “them” to you and how can you start to see them as “us”? One of the practical ways is to get out of the habit of ascribing the value of people based on their social media posts. It will take discipline to push past the noise, but we must do this in order to come closer to what we don’t fully understand. When we stay curious we will lead with questions and seek to be a learner of others.
2) We create the best content when we collaborate with those who differ from us.
If we are truly going to make progress and produce something meaningful, we will need people who have different vantage points and giftings. This will require proximity and listening to those who have a different perspective than you. It’s tempting to write it off and have a condescending attitude, tone and facial expressions towards those who voted differently than you. This however, won’t do you, them or us any good. We need your and other’s perspectives, but we waste a good amount of energy staying in a state of outrage and anger.
We talk about wanting change, but we must change first and link arms with one another and learn from each other. Who is the person who is different from you that you will build a bridge with? Make the call or text and grab a meal with that person. Authentic relationships will always be the catalyst for real and lasting change.
3) Live for the right King and Kingdom.
Now, I know not everyone reading is a follower of Jesus, so bare with me. If we are going to move forward together we have to understand that Jesus is asking for His Church to display uncommon unity. In fact, right before He was crucified this is what prayed: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:20-21
Oftentimes, the culture influences the church instead of the church influencing the culture. This isn’t how Jesus meant for it to be. The men hearing this message came from all kinds of different backgrounds and walks of life. They didn’t always agree and Jesus knew when he left the divide would be easier to come by. It was common to His culture (and ours) to cut off and cancel out those we don’t agree with or deem unworthy.
We can disagree, but the “how” is important. It is to be done in an honoring and respectful way. May we follow the lead of Jesus who said those words even as the ones who betrayed and denied Him were with Him. He would even wash their feet as a model of how to serve others in John 13. It would have been easier to wash his hands of them, but instead he washes their feet.
Do you wash your hands of people you don’t agree with or do you wash their feet? I would encourage you to start serving by praying a blessing over those in office and those you don’t fully align with. It’s hard to hate those you begin to root for and in the process you are rooting for yourself….because it’s not “us vs them,” but just “us.”
