We live in a sometimes seemingly regressive culture that acts more like grade school bullies than intelligent adults who can disagree on issues and have meaningful conversations. We are encouraged to label people by their politics, race, religion, gender, and all kinds of categories that only result in more division! For many that may be the desired result, because if you can assign someone to a category you dislike, that somehow excuses you from actually talking with that person and maybe getting to actually know them, their background, and their real motives and desires. We are influenced by politicians, news & social media pundents, various movement leaders, and even college professors who like to take a cowardly approach and inflame people by using labels & division, rather than actually talking to those they disagree with and try to come to some reasonable solutions they can find to agree on.

For Christians, we are called by Jesus to live at a higher standard than that, and should refuse to get sucked into these false & misleading partisan, us vs. them confrontations. I can think of 3 areas of Christian teaching that could have a profound, positive influence on our culture, IF Christians would only practice what they know to be true!

First, we are always called to watch the words we use. Rather than being inflammatory and derogatory, we are called to treat even those we dislike with respect. Jesus told us in the Sermon on the Mount to ” bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute you”. All people are made in the image of God and are loved by Him, no matter how nasty they may seem and even if they appear to be “idiots” to us. Only God knows the ultimate motives of others, and we are to attempt to build others up by our words. Jesus’ half-brother James warns us off the damage an out of control tongue can do:
James 3:6-10 (NIV)
6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

Second, resist dividing people by labels & categories. Our culture likes us to look at each other primarily by political persuasion, race, nationality, gender, and many other divisive categories. In reality, most of us have the same dreams and aspirations as everyone else. If we actually sat down and talked calmly with those we superficially disagree with, I believe we would find we agree on the vast majority of good things in life, but we may disagree on the path to get there. There are some in society who want to cause division, mistrust, and hatred, and we don’t have to succumb to their pettiness. Paul warns us in Galatians that such actions are actually evil in nature:
Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV)
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Finally, claim your new identity in Christ above every other category! Paul reminds of this new identity & purpose in II Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 5:16-19 (NIV) 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
As a Christian, we are to see ourselves first & foremost as a new creation of Christ. Every other category is secondary to that, whether it be political persuasion, nationality, or anything else! Jesus gave us the assignment of reconciling the world to HIM (not a political view or even particular nation). And that power of God that transforms us can bring even enemies together as brothers & sisters. The apostle Paul was originally a legalistic Pharisee and persecuted the early Christians. He would pray sincerely every morning thanking God that he was not “a Gentile, a slave, or a woman”. After his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus, his whole worldview changed and he became the greatest missionary of God’s grace and reconciliation and was able to write in Galatians:
Galatians 3:26-28 (NIV)
26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
The power of God brought together people who had hated & mistrusted each other all their lives, and molded them into a unified force of servant leaders who transformed their world and built a movement that has transformed every generation since!
It’s interesting the one of the pledges that Martin Luther King Jr. had his marchers take each time echoed this same theme:
MLK Pledge #2
“Remember always that the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation – not victory.”
We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Brothers & sisters in Christ, we are called to be reconcilers, not haters or dividers. That doesn’t mean you can’t have political or social views that may differ with another Christian. It does mean that we are to respect, love, forgive, and speak kindly to each other, especially to those who seem to want to cause division and hatred. Our allegiance is to Jesus and the Kingdom of God above any other party or nation. If we focus on who we are as new creations in Christ, we can bring much-needed peace, hope, and reconciliation to those who are lost in darkness and despair. Take the high road and live as redeemed believers!!