INTRODUCTION
“Never talk about religion or politics.” You may have heard this classic bit of advice more than a few times in your life. In fact, it might feel particularly relevant in our current cultural circumstances! Numerous studies have pointed to the increasing religious, political, and social divides occurring around the world today. The Internet enables us to live in echo chambers, where we hear only the opinions we already agree with. Have polarizing and adversarial conversations about difficult topics impacted us as Christians – as the church that Jesus loves?
The truth is that these same kinds of divisions are very much alive in the church, both within individual congregations and within Christianity as a whole. In fact, religion can sometimes exacerbate these divisions, as one group and then another claims to have the true grasp of the “biblical” position. It is remarkable sometimes how conveniently the Bible seems to perfectly match the political and theological beliefs of whichever side is claiming scriptural support! How ought Christians to vote? How ought we to face questions about social issues, abortion, war, violence, and inequality? What is the connection between faith and politics, between beliefs and lifestyle?
Reflecting Or Overcoming Divisions?
In a cultural moment like this one, the church is faced with a challenge. Do we reflect the divisions in our world, or do we challenge, transcend, and overcome them? Do we run away from hard conversations, or do we believe in the uniting power of the Holy Spirit to help us find our way through them? Jesus’ prayer for unity in John 17:20-21 points the way.
“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one — as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”
Jesus believes the unity of the church serves two purposes. First, it reflects the trinitarian nature of God in relationship. It demonstrates an aspect of who God is. Second, it witnesses to the world and will inspire belief. It would be harder to come up with a better summary of the central purpose of the church than to reflect God and to encourage faith in Him.
An Age-Old Struggle
From the very beginnings of the church, Jesus’ prayer has proved to be a wise one, because it is difficult for humans to reflect the divine unity. In New Testament times, Jews and Gentiles struggled with how to connect the Jewish roots of Christianity to the broader social context.
The early church struggled with what it meant to be faithful in the midst of a pagan empire. As the church grew throughout history, questions arose about church authority, relations between church and state, and how to translate the gospel into different cultures. Conflicts produced situation after situation in which obeying Jesus’ commands was hard to do.
In some ways, this can give us hope for the present. While the church has never handled conflicts perfectly, it has continued to be a faithful witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And over time, many of the divisions and conflicts are resolved or put to the side. We are not the first ones to face questions like these.
What This Study Is Designed To Do
The following study is designed to help you as a Christian to have discerning and effective conversations in love – whether they occur on social media, in family gatherings, or even in church settings – with those who think differently from you.
The affirmations in this material give guidance for how to love as Kingdom people, in all communication environments. The basic value of learning from others – particularly those who don’t think like us – is a thread that runs through these pages.
We all want to learn how to have hard conversations, in love, bringing a thoughtful perspective to challenging topics. But how do we do it when our emotions are high and our values are challenged? In a polarizing, often polemic world, the ability to have conversations that ultimately bring life to both parties will be an increasingly important virtue for the years to come. And whether we’re talking about hot-button topics like politics, race, violence, religion, worldview, social issues, or justice, we can bring to the moment a Jesus-following approach that leads to life- changing conversations.
What resources does the Bible give us for having hard conversations? Let’s ponder five scriptural themes that might help us to experience the unity Jesus prayed for us to have.
- Questions for Group or Individual Reflection
- After reading the Introduction to the study, is it important to you to overcome divisions?
- Why?
AFFIRMATION 1:
God has all truth, but we don’t have a perfect understanding of it.
1 Corinthians 13:12
Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
We are swimming in a culture of relativism. Often, everyone’s point of view is considered equally valid. This is also a time period when someone’s claim to know truth better than someone else might lead to accusations of being arrogant.
Understandably, in response, Christians have often emphasized the unique claims of Christ and proclaimed the Lordship of Christ above all earthly powers. This is right and good. However, we need to make an important distinction between God’s perfect knowledge of truth and our ability to know truth perfectly.
God has graciously revealed Himself through the coming of Jesus, the giving of Scripture, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. But humans are imperfect recipients of revelation. We bring our own weaknesses, biases, and cultural blind spots to our understanding of God’s revealed truth.
One doesn’t have to look very far into church history to find examples
of enormous groups of faithful, Bible-believing Christians subscribing to ideas that were later shown to be false. Think of the examples of the religious wars in Europe after the Reformation, or the justification of slavery on biblical grounds. Enormous human suffering occurred because of some people’s quite sincere belief in what Scripture “clearly” taught.
Being aware of these historical problems shouldn’t lead us to refuse to hold onto the importance of pursuing truth because we are afraid that we might be getting it wrong. Instead, it ought to humble us and make us more gracious with our sisters and brothers when we disagree. It doesn’t mean we will simply acquiesce to other points of view, but it might bring a gentleness to our responses (Prov. 15:1).
So how do we talk about political and cultural issues without yelling at each other?
First, we realize the goal is not necessarily to convince the other person that we are right and he or she is wrong. It’s very possible we are both partly right and both partly wrong. Or perhaps the other person is wrong about this issue from a theological standpoint. But that doesn’t make them a bad person, and it doesn’t mean that they don’t have any connection to Christ.
Second, we sincerely try to imagine a world in which the other person is right. This might take considerable willpower, but if we are humble enough to realize that we “see through a glass darkly” (1 Cor. 13:12) just as the other person does, perhaps we can manage to do it.
Third, we choose not to believe that someone’s opinion about politics is the entire story about who he or she is as a person. Perhaps we cannot arrive at any other conclusion than that the other person is tragically misguided. This might be true. But it doesn’t mean that there needs to be irreparable damage to our love for each other in Christ.
- Questions for Group or Individual Reflection
- Can you name a situation in your own life where you were sure you were right, but in the end turned out not to be?
AFFIRMATION 2:
Being loving is as important as being right.
1 Corinthians 13:2
If I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
We should be clear that doing our best to be in the right is very important. Christianity is not an excuse for intellectual laziness. We ought to be zealous about understanding Scripture and coming to the correct conclusions. We ought to think and research and work diligently to understand the political and cultural complexities of our day — and what it means to be faithful followers of Christ in the midst of them.
Paul’s theme here is not that it is pointless to understand God’s secret plans, to possess knowledge, and to have great faith. If we read the rest of the New Testament, it becomes clear that this is precisely what the Christians were trying to do. To say that love is as important as these things is not to say these things aren’t important!
Love enables each of these other pursuits to be put in its right place. Love is like the sun at the center of the Christian ethical solar system, holding all the other virtues in their proper orbits.
Love creates the motivation-space in which we make use of the knowledge and faith we have endeavored to attain.
Knowledge on its own can be a dangerous thing. It can be used to help others, but it can also be used to manipulate and bludgeon others. If we have knowledge, how can we know what it is to be used for?
We are guided by the love revealed to us through Jesus.
So what do we do if we conclude that a sister or brother in Christ is deeply wrong about a moral issue?
First, we choose to love the person. It doesn’t mean we have to agree with them, affirm their belief, or even affirm their actions. But we can decide that, since Jesus loves all of us in our own wrong-headedness, we can choose to love this other person, too.
Second, we try to persuade the person with gentleness and respect. In an age where two sides constantly yell at each other without real dialogue, we engage in intensive listening and actual attempts at persuasion. Persuasion can be an act of love. This typically happens best in contexts in which longer back-and-forth dialogues are possible, like in person or over email. Generally, it is less helpful to do this on social media platforms where argumentation and discourse tend to happen in jabs and sound bites.
Third, at some point, we choose to let it go. Perhaps you are familiar with the story of Paul and Barnabas parting ways in the book of Acts. They were friends and partners. But they came to such a sharp dispute that they had to part ways. However, from all accounts, it seems they managed to do so with respect and care for each other.
- Questions for Group or Individual Reflection
- Has there ever been a situation you were in when you were glad someone was loving toward you even though they were right?
Speaking With Humility
Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. (1 Cor. 13:12)
AFFIRMATION 3:
The Spirit can create unity where it once seemed impossible.
Acts 15:30-31
The messengers went at once to Antioch, where they called a general meeting of the believers and delivered the letter. And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message.
This passage is remarkable. If we read the rest of Acts 15, as well as the book of Galatians, these texts can help us understand the depth of the conflict between Jews and Gentiles in the New Testament. And this was not a mere theological conflict. Not only did it strike at the heart of two groups’ identities, it also had implications for what the church understood the gospel itself to be.
Acts 15 tells us the story of the first great church council in Jerusalem, laying bare this fraught situation. The stakes are high, and both groups have dug in their heels. One side claims the authority of Moses in giving the great revelation of Yahweh to the people of Israel. The other side claims the gospel has reworked the church’s relationship to Moses without denying his importance.
After much debate, we get these wonderful words at verse 28: “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” We must understand that this issue caused a major personal clash between the great titans of the early church, Peter and Paul. The question figures into nearly all Paul’s letters. And yet, in this moment, we are told that the Holy Spirit worked in a way no one had expected, and the outcome was great joy.
Similarly, our calling in this cultural moment involves faith. There will be times when it seems like the unity of the church is in question, when it feels as though it has bent to the point of cracking. It is helpful in these moments to remember that Jesus prayed for us in precisely these situations, because He knew they would happen. Our unity can demonstrate the nature of God, call unbelievers to faith, and lead to great joy in seeing the work of the Holy Spirit.
But this isn’t possible because the other side is SO WRONG!
First, you very well may be right. We long for unity in the church. Yet sometimes unity happens, and sometimes it doesn’t. There are times when someone’s conscience requires them to break fellowship, to separate from others. This is a sad reality, and if it happens, we must pray for grace and healing.
Second, you very well may be wrong. It’s amazing how things that at one point seemed like insurmountable barriers can be resolved over time. Real faith is trusting God in the moments that we don’t see a way forward. If we can find the faith to pray for a sick person, maybe we can find the faith to pray for unity with someone who is profoundly different from us.
Third, it’s helpful to ask this question: “What difference does this disagreement make in our practical day-to-day relationship and ministry?” Even if we can’t see a way forward, we can delay separation long enough to give the Spirit time to do its work.
- Questions for Group or Individual Reflection
- Have you ever been in a situation where agreement seemed absolutely vital, but in the end, you saw that it wasn’t?
AFFIRMATION 4:
We can find our identity in Christ, not in our belief systems.
Galatians 2:20
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Several years ago, researchers from Harvard University did some powerful investigations into the nature of difficult conversations and how they can be done well. They concluded that in the most difficult conversations, there are two potential dead ends.
The first dead end is to get stuck on the question, “What happened?” It turns out that people simply cannot agree on the answer to this question, particularly when emotions are high. Often two sides of an issue are so dead set on what the facts are that trying to resolve this basic question itself can end up being pretty fruitless.
The second dead end is to try to convince the other party of our good intentions while simultaneously distrusting their intentions. It turns out that intentions are difficult to talk about. If someone is offended by what I’ve said, it doesn’t do much good to convince them that I didn’t mean offense. If someone felt my words to be cold and unfeeling, it doesn’t much help to try to convince them that I didn’t intend for that to happen.
The conclusions of the research bear remarkable similarity to key tenets of the New Testament. The key to moving forward in difficult conversations is to find my identity in Christ, independent of what the other side says or does.
Even if I feel accused, attacked, or misunderstood, the other person’s opinion of me does not shape my identity — Christ does. And if I believe this other person is deeply misguided and deceived, I still believe he or she is made in the image of God and is loved by Christ.
Starting from this foundation, many of the most difficult conversations can move forward in unexpected ways.
But this is personal. These conversations are not hypothetical to me. I am feeling attacked and misheard (or not heard at all) in deeply hurtful ways. I am emotional, and I feel anxious about where all this will lead.
First, we all need to know our limits. We all have a capacity for how much difficult conversation we can handle. There are times when it is healthy simply to do our best to walk away from a situation. It doesn’t mean the other side wins, and it doesn’t mean we are weak. It simply means we are recognizing that we are beings with limits.
Second, we need people who can lovingly support us. This doesn’t mean we should only surround ourselves with people who agree with us and tell us the other side is wrong (as good as that can feel). It means finding people who will pray for our hurts, empathize with our anxiety, and pray for us with faith and love.
Third, we can identify with Christ’s humanity. He was often misunderstood and persecuted, and He found Himself feeling emotions from anger to sadness to exhaustion. We won’t walk through this life without feeling the full range of human emotions. This is normal, and it’s part of what it means to be human and follow Christ.
- Questions for Group or Individual Reflection
- Have you ever changed your mind on something you were sure you would believe forever?
- What changed?
AFFIRMATION 5:
We choose to accept that we live in the already and not yet.
John 4:23
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth.
Notice the tension in the first line of Jesus’ statement — “a time is coming” and “has now come.” When will all be put right? When will worship be full-throated, in spirit and truth? When will all be as it should be?
The answer is a both-and statement. Things will be made right in the future, on the day when God makes all things new. But also, now! It’s beginning to happen in and through the ministry of Jesus through all of His people.
Sometimes we are tempted, in moments of despair, to only hold on to the first part of this tension. “A time is coming.” We may say, “Let’s just give up hope for unity, hope for peace and justice. One day Jesus will come back and fix everything, so in the meantime, it’s permissible to throw up our hands in despair.”
At other times, both in moments of triumph and in moments of particular frustration, we are tempted to only hold on to the second part of this tension — “…has now come!” It all has to happen now. If it doesn’t, we fight harder. Or else we rage in our frustration that all is not as it should be, and that the church is not unified as we wish it was.
But maturity lives with both halves of Jesus’ statement. There is a day coming of new creation, a day of perfect unity, a day of peace, justice, forgiveness, and wholeness. And that day, through the Kingdom of Jesus, has begun.
The dawn is hinting on the horizon. The first drops of the rain are falling. And those first drops, that first light, does not lead us to despair that it is not yet day. Rather, it encourages us to journey on in the knowledge that day will indeed come.
Does this mean we give up? We just let the other side win and hope for the best?
First, of course not. Kingdom people are endlessly hopeful. Even in the most difficult situations (say, the crucifixion of the Messiah!) our God has shown power and faithfulness to win the day. We persevere, we work for the Kingdom, and we never give up.
Second, ask God for eyes to see this struggle in a new way. So many times people asked Jesus to choose for or against when it came to social, political, or religious issues, whether in regard to Jewish law or Roman taxation. But Jesus seemed to have a remarkable ability to perceive situations in ways nobody had previously thought of.
Third, believe in the actual power of prayer! Prayer is not merely a last-ditch effort when we can’t think of anything else to say or do. Jesus knew just how hard unity would be. That’s why He prayed so specifically for us 2,000 years ago.
- Questions for Group or Individual Reflection
- How do you respond to tension?
- When the world is not all that you believe it should be, are you able to live with that tension?
5 AFFIRMATIONS FOR HARD CONVERSATIONS
AFFIRMATION 1:
God has all truth, but we don’t have a perfect understanding of it.
1 Corinthians 13:12
Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
AFFIRMATION 2:
Being loving is as important as being right.
1 Corinthians 13:2
If I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
AFFIRMATION 3:
The Spirit can create unity where it once seemed impossible.
Acts 15:30-31
The messengers went at once to Antioch, where they called a general meeting of the believers and delivered the letter. And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message.
AFFIRMATION 4:
We can find our identity in Christ, not in our belief systems.
John 4:23
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth.
AFFIRMATION 5:
We choose to accept that we live in the already and not yet.
John 4:23
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth.
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