Politics Shouldn’t Make You Mean
By Daniel Darling
Getting involved in politics, at whatever level we are called to engage, is a matter of stewardship. Some of us need more politics in our lives; we are silent when we should be vocal. But many of us probably could use a bit less. Perhaps it’s not healthy to follow the ups and downs of every single news story, the idle political chatter that wastes so much time, the daily intake of opinion that can eat away at our souls. Perhaps it’s time to do an audit. Are we so consumed by politics that it is affecting our relationships?
I recently had a conversation with a friend who lamented that while she shared her husband’s politics, his daily intake of podcasts and cable news was “making him mean.” I wonder how often that can be said of us. I wonder whether in our social media profiles, in our daily conversations, in the things that irritate us we forget that our first job as followers of Jesus is to share the good news of what he has done for us.
This isn’t an admonition toward passivity. We need believers to go into the world and make a difference. But we go as God’s people, as ambassadors of another kingdom. Even the way we speak, the way we treat people, should reflect the love of Christ.
One of the biggest temptations of politics is being convinced that because our cause is just, we can bypass being formed by the Spirit. In our zeal to gain power and influence, we can lose our Christianity. David French offers a sober warning: “To be sure, some of the best people in public life proclaim the name of Christ. But so do some of the worst. While some of the most important fights for justice have been led by Christians—including the civil rights and pro-life movements—some of the most destructive political and cultural forces have been loudly and proudly led by Christians as well.”
Virtues matter. The fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control—doesn’t go away merely because our cause is just. God cares about our character as much as he cares about the cause.
Politics—held loosely, approached humbly—can be a wonderful vehicle for meaningful change and human flourishing. But it can also be an arena of temptation, leading us away from Jesus. In recent years, as the stakes have ratcheted up, politics has seeped into the church, distracting us from our mission and turning brothers and sisters against one another.
There is a whole genre of books and articles and other content written by Christians excoriating other Christians for voting differently from them. And while we need prophetic voices, we have so totalized our politics that we ascribe the worst motives and malice to those who punch the ballot differently.
This is a politics that makes us mean. And somewhere along the line, we forget the causes that got us into activism in the first place. Instead of standing up for the vulnerable, instead of working on making change, instead of getting meaningful legislation across the finishing line, our engagement is merely a way to show the world that we are better, more righteous, and nobler than the people we are trying to crush. Too often those we want to destroy are our own brothers and sisters in the Lord, whom we are called to love, whose burdens we are tasked with bearing.
The Bible and Politics
The task of a Christian in the world is to speak up for truth and justice, to work to shape communities for human flourishing, but to do these things in a distinctly Christian way. We can do this when we remember that the battles we are fighting are really spiritual battles. Scripture reminds us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12).
This is why prayer and other spiritual disciplines are so important for our engagement in politics. We should remember Paul’s words to Timothy, a pastor leading a church during the Roman Empire’s increasing hostility toward Christians. He told Timothy, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1–4).
If the church at Ephesus could pray earnestly for Nero, who would one day send Christians to their deaths for bearing the name of Christ, we can pray for our leaders. It’s funny how controversial this idea has become in recent years. For the last several years, I’ve made it a habit, after every election day, to post prayers for the newly elected president, and it always seems to upset Christian friends who find themselves on the losing side.
So when George W. Bush was elected, I called people to pray, and progressive friends pushed back. When Barack Obama was elected, I did the same thing and got the same flak from conservative friends. And this cycle was repeated when Donald Trump and then Joe Biden were elected. Who knew biblical prayer for our leaders would make folks mad? It shows, I think, how personal we’ve made our politics, how we’ve turned genuine political differences into a license to hate. To give an inch, even in prayer, is seen as compromise. To be civil to those who disagree, without budging on our principles, is seen as being complicit with evil.
Temporal vs. Eternal
We have come to this moment not because we care too much about the issues we are championing but because we’ve elevated the temporal good of politics above faith in our eternal, sovereign, powerful God. If our only hope is in the next election, then we will wring our hands in fear, we’ll abandon biblical virtues and the fruit of the Spirit, and we will engage the world with the rhetoric and methods of the world. But if we truly believe that Christ is king and he’s coming one day to establish his eternal kingdom, we can engage with both conviction and civility, with both lament over evil and joy in our hearts, with both opposition to bad policies and love for people.
It’s possible to do this if we keep ourselves anchored in the Word, in prayer, in faithful Christian community. It will mean that, at times, our Christian convictions will put us at odds with our political parties or movements. But that’s okay, because as strangers and sojourners (1 Peter 2:11), we understand that the present world systems, even the best ones in the best countries, are not our final destination.
My friend Michael Wear says it best: “Christians: The crisis is not that you are politically homeless. The crisis is that we ever thought we could make a home in politics at all.”
Engaging politics joyfully allows us not only to win others over with persuasive arguments and to stand up for the vulnerable but also to fulfill our calling as witnesses to another kingdom. Our politics should be otherworldly, pointing souls who are seeking to the only true source of satisfaction, Jesus Christ. This is how we function as agents of grace, how we become people eager to be part of God’s work of reconciliation in the world.
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Adapted from Agents of Grace: How to Bridge Divides and Love as Jesus Loved by Daniel Darling. Click here to learn more about this book.
Political division. Racial tension. Vaccine wars. In Agents of Grace, award-winning writer, journalist, and podcast host Daniel Darling equips us to discern what's worth fighting for, how to move beyond our profound disagreements, and how to live as agents of Jesus's love.
When Daniel Darling was fired as spokesperson for the National Religious Broadcasters Association, it wasn't his exit that made national news—it was the way he handled it. Daniel's charitable response to those he had worked with was so radical that it made headlines. But why has kindness among Christians become so startling?
In Agents of Grace, Daniel explores practical ways we can follow the Bible's command to "strive actively for peace" even in a painfully divided church, country, and world. On a very personal level, he helps us climb out of cynicism about how the people of God treat each other, especially when we are trying to heal from such pain in our own lives.
Beautifully written, Agents of Grace draws on modern-day examples and biblical truths to address:
- Divisions that keep us from obeying Jesus's command to love one another
- Virtues that will lead us to a peace-filled life
- The theological differences that are worth fighting for, and those that are not
- How to avoid apathy and heal from past hurt, even amid hypocrisy and corruption
- The difference between forgiveness, reconciliation, and trust
In this hope-filled book, Daniel issues a clarion call to live as bridgebuilders in a divided country, healers in a hurting church, and countercultural Jesus-followers in a world that needs to know God's love.
Daniel Darling is an award-winning writer, author, and Christian leader whose public profile expanded exponentially as a result of being the subject of national news stories, including coverage by NBC News, Christianity Today, CNN, the Associated Press, and other outlets for his appeal to unity in the midst of adversity.
He is a regular guest on national television, including Morning Joe, CNN, and Fox News, as well as CBN. He is a regular contributor to USA Today and a columnist for World magazine, and his work has also been featured by the Washington Post, National Review, Christianity Today, the Gospel Coalition, and the Washington Times.
He is the author of more than a dozen books, including The Dignity Revolution, A Way with Words, and The Characters of Christmas. Dan hosts the weekly podcast The Way Home, leads the Land Center for Cultural Engagement, and speaks at churches and conferences around the country. He and his wife, Angela, have four children and reside in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
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