Three Reminders As We Dialogue For The Common Good
Three simple and biblical ways to wisely engage with our neighbors and our culture, regardless of how difficult an issue is.
I follow politics and public discourse. I
think it’s important to stay in the loop on what is happening in the world and
in American life. More than that, however, I think it’s important to engage in
these things. But it’s an understatement to say that much of what happens in
public discourse isn’t pretty. That’s including Christians, unfortunately.
The last several presidential elections have
revealed the division in our culture. The amount of true discussion and debate
over the issues of greatest importance has taken a back seat to well-crafted
one-liners delivered at just the right time for maximum rhetorical impact. A
lot of time is spent talking past each other and not listening to each other.
This goes beyond politics. There’s
increasing entrenchment in our views and a vilification of people with other
views. When that’s the case, you’re not going to work together. How do
we dialogue for the common good and with the goal of solutions? I
don’t hear a lot of people talking about that.
Evangelicals have a lot of problems with
where culture is going, and rightly so. But we aren’t getting far with the culture
in our discourse with them. Why? I think the answer is engagement. In my
book, Subversive Kingdom, I argue that we
shouldn’t be about control. Rather, we should be seeking to live as agents of
the kingdom who are showing and sharing the love of Jesus to a world that’s
hurting. How do we get to that place of engagement?
Let me list three simple and biblical ways
to wisely engage with our neighbors and our culture, regardless of how
difficult an issue is.
1.
Love
your neighbor as yourself.
Without going into great detail, as many of
us have heard this preached or taught it ourselves, to love our neighbor is to
see them as God sees them and to care for them as God would have us care for
them.
While we can, and should, describe love as
more than feelings, which I’ll do below, I want to focus here on that feeling
of love—to truly feel love for our neighbor. Love means we see people as
creatures made in God’s image.
If you want to cultivate a heart that loves
your neighbor, know your own heart better. I am the greatest sinner, not them,
because I know my heart. Realizing this will break you, humble you, and open
your eyes to see people as you’ve never seen them. That, in turn, will enable
you to love them as you’ve never loved them. This leads to my next point.
#1: Practice the Golden Rule
Love leads us to practice the Golden Rule,
“Whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them” (Matt.
7:12). It’s unfortunate that one of the most practical and powerful teachings
of all of scripture and from the lips of the Savior is often too quickly said
and too rarely practiced. When love for neighbor is genuine and deeply felt, it
changes not only what we feel for others, but also how we treat others.
The Bible includes many passages that illustrate what treating others as we want to be treated looks like. We are to consider others as more important and to look out for their interests (Phil. 2:3-4). We are to bear burdens for others (Gal. 6:2). What if we looked at those we disagree with through the eyes called to bear burdens, to be concerned for them more than ourselves?
Don’t we want that for ourselves? Don’t we
want to be understood? Don’t we want our positions honestly considered? But too
often we think of others’ views in the worst way and demand others take our
views in the best way. That’s hypocrisy.
Without love, we are just clanging cymbals
(1 Cor. 13:1) in the public sphere or in our coffee shop conversations. Love
is the fuel for disagreeing without being disagreeable.Love elevates our
dialogue and seeks the greatest good.
My goal when I critique someone else’s
position is that he or she would say that I have articulated his or her
position correctly even though we disagree on the position itself. Without love
and the Golden Rule, people and arguments are demoted to caricatures, and that
gets us nowhere.
#2: Be quick to hear, slow to speak, and
slow to anger
Finally, we need to head the words of James
1:19. Following these words, James explains that our anger doesn’t accomplish
God’s righteousness. This may be one of the best ways to explain what the
Golden Rule looks like in an actual conversation.
As we engage with those who have different
perspectives and opinions, we should focus on listening. Too often, we ‘engage’
by preparing our responses while others are still laying out their case. This
is pretty much what we see on the news debates every day. We can do better by
listening well.
It not only makes us respond better to
people, but it shows we respect them. We speak best when we know what they
said, what we are saying, and how we should say it. Saying something that seems
well-worded to us may not seem that way to others. Good listening leads to good
understanding, and good understanding leads to good and accurate responses.
And then when they respond, we refuse to get
easily angered and offended. We take the words of others in the best way possible
and keep focused on the discourse and not the attacks.
#3: True Christian Discourse
Christian leaders need to teach the values
of civil public discourse. Before we expect it from anyone else, we must be the
ones to model the path.
It starts with obeying the Great Commandment
to love your neighbor and following the Golden Rule. It makes us better
listeners, wise in when and how to use our words, and not easily offended or
angered.
More than a good zinger or a clever quip to
try to win an argument, we should desire real discourse for the good of the
causes we believe in and for the good of the world that we care to convince.
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