I love our church for many reasons including the diversity of politics represented in our congregation. The Sunday after the president’s executive order banning travel from certain countries I had memorable conversations with two church members about what had happened. One member was filled with excitement and optimism, another with frustration and dread. Yet they both came to worship God together at our church. I find great hope in that, and it got me thinking about practical advice for how to passionately disagree yet maintain our unity as Christians.
At the core of doing this well is maintaining a deep value for people even when we deeply disagree with their ideas. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” God loved the whole world. God certainly didn’t agree with the ideas or actions of many people, yet God deeply valued those people.
With that in mind I’ll suggest three principles for passionately disagreeing, Christian-style:
- Acknowledge the other person’s good qualities. In the heat of passionate disagreement, it’s tempting only to notice the negative qualities of people on the other side. I’m confident we’re all a mix of better and worse qualities and acknowledging the good in people I disagree with helps me value them.
- Seek to understand the other person’s position. James 1:19b-20 says, “let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger, for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.” If I can listen to another person’s position and understand where they’re coming from, I find it easier to value them as a person even if I still passionately disagree with them. James suggests listening also leads me away from anger, which helps me avoid acting in ways displeasing to God.
- Practice non-violence. Revolutionaries in Jesus’ time tried to instigate change by meeting violence with violence. Jesus met violence with peace. His non-violence demonstrated his value of others’ lives even over his own and ended up changing the world far more than the violence of his contemporaries.
Whether we see eye to eye on politics or passionately disagree I value you, I’m grateful we belong to the same community of faith, and I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday!
In Christ,
Rich
Rich Rindfuss
Access Pastor
First United Methodist Church Richardson