Those who’ve been observing elections for decades have called this the most contentious, nasty election season in recent history, if not of all time. So the question that emerges after the voting dust settles is this: can we improve as we move forward? And more poignantly, can today’s teens help? For those of us who work with teens, we know they can not only help, they can break the chain of contentiousness and re-set the rules on dialogue. That is, if they can get past their parents.
Scripture gives us guidance for interacting with secular government and authorities—those with whom we agree , and those with whom we disagree. Let these bullet-point thoughts below spark more thoughts of your own. Maybe that’s the spark that’s needed to change the nature of the dialogue in today’s landscape.
- Love Your Enemies
Yes, it is a stretch to compare today’s political adversaries to the enemies Jesus referred to in Matthew 5:44, but the principle of the command applies perfectly. In fact, In Luke 6 Jesus gave follow-up commands that seem custom-delivered for today’s election cycle: do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
- Always Be Humble and Kind
Yes, this is a tag line in a popular country music song recorded by Tim McGraw and written by Lori McKenna. But it also summarizes most of the instructions in the New Testament directed at believers. In fact, you could organize most instructions into one of these two broad areas: inner (humility) and outer (kindness). Let your imagination run wild on how dialogue might change if political foes adopted this admonition: always be humble and kind.
- Pray for Elected Leaders
Romans 13:1 and 1 Timothy 2:2 state very clearly the relationship believers are to have with “kings and those in authority.” We are to pray, we are to be thankful, and deferent. It’s curious that Scripture singles out the relationship between believers and secular leadership. There must be something to this, and 1 Timothy 2:2-4 gives us some insight: the goal is to be able to live peaceful lives in a way that leads people to a knowledge of truth. That’s big.
- Understand the Two Kingdoms
As believers, our ultimate allegiance is not of this world. But as human beings, we live in worldly kingdoms that have its own rules and expectations. The characteristics of Jesus’ kingdom starkly contrast with the characteristics of familiar secular kingdoms. For starters, Jesus said to think small, as in mustard-seed small. Jesus’ kingdom is to include little of us, and lots of God. Secular kingdoms are, by definition, the opposite of that.
World-changing revivals and movements often start in the teen generation. We’ll all be going through this process again in four years. Those years will go quickly. There is no time like “the day after” to get started.