Called to Love In the Middle of a Political Storm

Silence feels impossible at this moment. I cannot outrun the political ads as hard as I try. Our nation is at war, a civil war waged on social media between misunderstood, digital words and conversations. We justify our positions with shares and heated hearts fueled by hatred, sadness and frustration. Mix our internal chaos together with our political circus, opinion-run news and shareable social media and its as dangerous as a bomb ticking down to its last seconds ready to implode, leaving messy hearts in its path.

I wish as much as each person we had the superpower to read each person’s thoughts pointing us to the map of their hearts. Then intentions wouldn’t be hidden left for us to unjustly question and assume. Thankfully that monstrous task is left to God alone.

So what are we called to do when we feel shipwrecked by this political storm?

We have to stop speaking over each other, constantly cranking our volume level up in a battle to be heard. An unbiased listener is a sweet gift to our broken world.

Remember the audience you’re trying to reach with your shared articles and emotionally charged rants is full of humans, each with their own perspective uniquely shaped by their personal history.

 Respect is created in taking the time to try and understand your opposites views, not in a selfish ambition to change them. Respecting others with empathy means challenging your own views and sometimes making the difficult decision to reshape your own. Seeking humility in an admittance of being wrong is extremely powerful. It means loving others because they think differently than you. We need to stop dismissing someone in instantaneous disagreement. That rejects the love that God is calling us to show. Take the time to ask questions. And sometimes okay to be too overwhelmed to fully know which side you stand with or stand somewhere in the middle equally respecting and disliking the divisiveness of it all.

 I stand with truth and grace. It is something I seek daily. I find great comfort in knowing that it is not my job to judge others. (Psalm 50:6) It is, however, my job to acknowledge everyone’s need for grace and show him or her the abundant unconditional love given as a free gift by Jesus. It is exhausting to rest in anything other than that.

I chose to investigate my own heart for any unwarranted beliefs.

I chose to believe that the position of someone’s heart is of more value than his or her political affiliation.

I chose to listen.

I chose to respect.

I chose love. 

“I can see Your heart
Eight billion different ways
Every precious one
A child You died to save
If You gave Your life to love them so will I”