Shane Legler

As I write this article, it is my sincere prayer that we all know who the president elect is by the time it’s being read. Regardless, I have no doubt that half the country is, or will be, enraged, depressed, anxious or terrified over the result. In my lifetime, our nation has never been more divided. We are a long way from Sept. 12, 2001. 

How might we glorify Christ in such a hostile environment? How might we be part of the solution and not part of the problem? Christ has flatly told us, “I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” Matthew 5:43-48.

Christ does not tell us that we must agree with our enemies, but he demands that we love them and pray for them. Some may ask, “How is that possible?” It gets easier to love those who hate us when we remember that every single one of them is, in fact, made in God’s image and the object of God’s love. No matter what name they have on their hat or whose sign they have in their lawn, Christ died for them. 

If we follow Christ, we must remember that. We also must remember that Jesus asked the father to forgive those who chanted for his crucifixion and mocked him because “They know not what they do,” Luke 23:34. Christian, I beg you to remember that it has never been easier to go through life without having to confront an idea you don’t agree with. We all have the whole wealth of human knowledge at our fingertips, but most of us only see the world through a very small and select lens. If one only ever sees the world through the filter of one or two news outlets, one can’t possibly be really and truly informed.

Therefore, we should all concede the possibility of being ignorant of certain things ourselves and extend grace to the neighbor with whom we disagree, recognizing that they probably, “know not what they do.” That understood, our neighbor cannot be understood and defined merely by a sign on their lawn or a hat on their head. I have rarely met an individual who I couldn’t enjoy having a conversation with.

I love people individually. That said, I will readily confess that I struggle with them in a group. Groups are a bit hard to reason with. Happily, the Lord never told me to love a faceless mob or capitol “H” humanity. He told me to love my neighbor. All the Lord is asking is that we see and love the human being behind the yard sign. If we can do this, then we can disagree with them without being disagreeable. After all, none of us have to live next to the president, but we all do have to live next to our neighbor.

Our political convictions do matter, and I should hope that our faith in Christ will absolutely inform our political convictions. As with all things, civic duties and obligations matter to God, and I should hope that no Christian neglects these things. That said, the governance and reign of our Lord Jesus Christ does not rest on the outcomes of U.S. elections. I recognize we probably hear that very often, but it is because we need to hear it often. 

Post election, the government still rests on Christ’s shoulder, and it is still true that there will be no end to the increase of his government and of peace. That said, we shall not benefit from his governance or peace, as a people, if we will not individually allow him to rule and reign in our hearts. We cannot hope to mend this broken world if we haven’t allowed the lord to mend our broken hearts. May the lord help us to see our crazy, messed up neighbor for who they truly are; may we see them as the one for whom Christ died and work for their good. 

(Shane Legler is the pastor of Powell Church of God.)