Staying Positive About Those On The Other Side of the Aisle

My friend turned and made a sour face at the very mention of a Christian leader with whom he disagreed. I was saddened. While I understand some of the weaknesses of the leader in attitude and action, I still sensed that God was using that leader powerfully in many lives. It seemed like my friend was “putting down” the leader, diminishing him in the eyes of those around by his non-verbal communication.

As I thought of how sad it made me, I heard a whisper in my heart, “Don’t you do the same thing toward those with whom you don’t agree?”

Flashing across my mind were my comments and thoughts about political figures, religious leaders, and others who don’t do things my way. It’s easy in this world of political satire and cartoons to classify a person by their actions or beliefs, characterize them by the parts with which we disagree, and then caricature them in that partial view. By highlighting the parts we disagree with, we negate any good that God has placed within them. We actually stop seeing them as a whole person, one of God’s instruments, and see them only by their faults.

The truth is: none of us are without fault. None of us have it all together. By caricaturing other leaders by their negatives, we actually join them in negativity. We slip close to slander…for, while what we criticize might be true, it is not the whole story. And by leaving out the positives in the person, we paint them differently than God is painting them.

Responding to this tendency to speak evil of others, Jude says, even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" 10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand;

And, Paul, in Galatians 5 highlights that this kind of attitude drifts from the love the Holy Spirit wants to produce in us… GAL 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. 16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
So, I am asking for God’s grace to see the positives in presidents, senators, televangelists, and those who don’t walk on my side of the street. And, I’m asking for God’s grace to speak about the positives and refuse the temptation to camp out on the negatives. After all, while Jesus could speak directly to people about their failures in a very graphic way (see Matthew 23), about the most inflammatory thing Jesus said about others was calling Herod a fox.