Sunday Sermon: The Great Divide

There was a time when I wrote regularly and words were easy to find, but then my world became tough and fragile at the same time. Words were hard to find.

At times, over the past few years, I’ve kept my mouth shut, and, at times, I’ve spoken loudly about the state of our Union. But, I haven’t seemed to muster the courage to pen my real and raw thoughts in a while, as conflict lurks around the corner, or, more specifically, in the DMs.

But, on the eve of the presidential inauguration, and a change in administration, I feel inspired, so, hang on and buckle up. The middle of the road, where I reside on most issues, is a bumpy, messy ride.

Now, before we get started, I’m not gonna tell you now to vote. Honestly, I don’t even care how you vote…and, the people have spoken anyway, so that would be pointless. I guess my only point in this writing is to pen a few thoughts that are literally screaming from the depths of my soul. It’s a survival tactic, if you will.

First and foremost, I’ll just get this out of the way to avoid behind-the-scenes banter, I’m an independent voter. A politician’s worst or best nightmare, depending on your outlook. I have no stock or money in either party. For years, I voted straight Republican, no questions asked…but, then I started asking my own questions and doing a little research and it turns out, I’m not so “red”. My life experience, my profession, mission trips and maybe just my personality lead me down a different path.

I remember when I voted for a Democrat the very first time. It was so scandalous. I expected the voting booth to explode, a bell to ring or at least an announcement in my very Republican county. Something like “hey folks, we’ve got a live one”, but nothing happened. No one called the deacons or my pastor. They just let me leave. I didn’t tell a soul, except for my husband, but he’s an independent rascal, too, so he understands.

Since that time, my ballots are all shades of red and blue. It’s freeing and beautiful to me, but, if I’m honest, I still whisper “Democrat” in a primary election if I’m choosing the Democratic ticket. I don’t want to ruffle any feathers or alert the authorities.

But, to my own detriment, a few years ago, I spoke out against a politician (any guesses?). My views flew right out of my mouth and onto my social media pages; and let me tell you, that’s how you really make people mad. It wasn’t my intent, but intent flies out the window when people feel betrayed. I was publicly stating what I’d kept private, and boy did it come with a cost. Party betrayal is a big deal! I honestly thought I was standing up for my morals and beliefs, not politics, but it turns out that sometimes party comes before everything. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

Anyway, that’s enough of that. What I really want to say, loudly, for all the people in the back, is can we, for the love of all things holy, just stop?

Can we stop with the hate, the judgement, the party lines?

Can we stop believing that the other party is a mortal enemy?

Can we stop the rhetoric that this is an all-or-nothing game?

Can we stop placing everyone in categories and believing that if you vote for a person (or party) that you are completely aligned?

And, this one really gets me…can we stop saying that to be a Christian one must align with a certain political party?

Can we just stop?

I’ve sat in a few history classes over the years, and I think maybe we could all use a refresher. We are all Americans. One Nation…this is not a zero-sum game where we should celebrate our division and applaud the shortcomings of others. When we are divided to the point that we cannot listen and compromise, we all lose.

We are founded on freedom and guess what friends, freedom is messy. “Liberty and justice for all” is hard stuff.

Your definition of freedom is based on your upbringing, your culture and maybe even your region of the nation, but guess what, so is everyone else’s. We have to be okay with the realization that what is best for you, may not be best for everyone – again, freedom is messy. It takes a lot of understanding, patience and critical thinking to make this work. But, let’s not forget that though messy, freedom is worth it!

Now, for the Christians in the group, I’m gonna drop some hard truths. The divisive rhetoric that I read and hear, on the regular, out of the mouths of those who call themselves Jesus followers, saddens me.

Jesus is not an American. I don’t think He values The United States over any other nation. John 3:16 says that “For God so loved the World, that he gave his only son…”.

I remember standing on a mountainside in Honduras, when God began to show me my American bias. It’s a hard pill to swallow. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to fully describe this experience, but walls fell when I surrendered my privilege.

God cares for all nations and all people. Genesis 1:27 states that we are all created in the image of God.

Therefore, when you attack, belittle and disparage another person for any reason (race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, country of origin, etc.), you are doing so to God’s creation.

At the last supper, Jesus gave a new commandment, to “Love one another” and states “by this, all men will know you are My disciples” (John 3: 34-35). Not by the way you vote or your party affiliation, but the way you LOVE.

When asked about the greatest commandment, Mark 12, Jesus said to love God and love your neighbor. Love God and love people.

Love should be our reputation.

And, the last time I checked, both American political parties get this wrong in so many ways. I could write a thousand blog posts about this subject, but I’ll just choose to quote myself:

if we’re not careful we begin to look at Jesus through the lens of politics instead of looking at politics through the lens of Jesus. Read that again. And, the danger of this, my friends, is that putting Jesus in a political box diminishes the gospel. It cheapens the cross.

I’ll get off my Christian soapbox, my friends, but let me repeat: love should be our reputation!

So, where do we go from here?

I think our only choice is to look inward and then outward.

Look at ourselves, our bias, our prejudice, our judgement and then consider how those beliefs shape how we treat others. This takes a lot of maturity and humility, so buckle up, this is messy.

Then, we should look at others through a new lens. I’m gonna say something that may surprise some of you. People are complex. Like, really complex.

More than one thing can be true about a person at the same time. Maybe someone can care about gun control and immigration. Maybe one can be concerned about LGBTQ rights and be a Republican. And, who knows, maybe one can be a Democrat and a Christian?

Wild, I know!

Here’s another truth bomb…we don’t all have to agree to get along. In fact, how boring would that be if we all shared the same views?

We can be friends, neighbors and even family and disagree. What a concept!

I’ve even heard that you can have a civil conversation with someone who shares different political views. I haven’t seen it recently, but I’ve heard it happens.

Now, all sermons must come to an end. I’m sure you’re glad if you’ve stayed with me this long. But, I’ll just say I think we all know that we can do better. We are the United States and we should strive to be united again. I didn’t vote for the incoming president. I have my reasons that I’d be happy to share over coffee, but I’m still an American and I hope and pray that we prosper no matter who leads us. I agree with very little of the policies of the new administration, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about the issues at hand. I truly believe that most of us want many of the same things, we just disagree on how to get there.

If we look, I believe we can find common ground and respect. We are not enemies, we are neighbors.

One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

~Mary Ann

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