Beyond the divisions: 5 guiding principles for Christian citizenship in a polarized nation

By Greg Hunt

Central Baptist Seminary

For all the complexities and sharp disagreements among Christians on matters that shape our citizenship, a certain foundation of shared faith can guide all of us who believe we have a constructive, even transformative, role to play in society.

Consider these principles of 20/20 vision for 2020 Christians:

– We anchor ourselves in the Triune God rather than one political party or another. This is a fundamental alignment issue. Remember, Jesus prayed that we would be in the world but not of it (John 17:13–19). As has been said in more than one corner of Christianity recently, we aren’t people of the Donkey or people of the Elephant; we are people of the Lamb.

-We cultivate our inward lives as ones vivified by the Spirit. Faith, after all, isn’t simply a checklist of convictions; nor is it merely a call to worldly action. Foundationally, it’s a Divine-human relationship that inspires an ongoing conversion of mind and heart. Something profound happens as God’s Spirit changes us from the inside out. As Jesus reminds us, what we say and do flows from what is in the heart (Luke 6:43–45).

-We discipline our relational lives as imitators of Christ. In his 2019 book, “Love Your Enemies,” Arthur C. Brooks bemoans our current “culture of contempt.” He offers antidotes to this contagion that are rooted in time-honored wisdom, and it’s not an accident that he draws the book’s title from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27). Our faith has much to say about how to get along with one another. It guides our attitudes and interactions with friend and foe alike.

-We shape our public lives with a missional mindset. When we see ourselves as agents of God’s mission for the world (John 20:21) rather than merely loyalists of one interest group or another, it alters the nature of our engagements. It reframes the questions we ask as we cast our votes and develop our agendas. It alters the ends we seek and the means by which we pursue them. It also forces us to reconsider how we measure “success.”

-We deepen our congregational lives as diverse members of the one Body of Christ. When the first four principles get translated into congregational life, new possibilities are born for understanding God, one another and the world. New possibilities for personal and collective action arise as well. It becomes safe — and increasingly fruitful — to come out of hiding and talk about difficult, important things that matter to our time and place, acting in concert when we can, disagreeing agreeably when we can’t and loving each other unconditionally, always.

These principles of 20/20 vision for Christian citizenship take us beyond the divisions of our day into deeper considerations of our presence in culture as the people of God. They enhance the likelihood that we actually will be what God calls us to be: the salt and light of the world.

EDITOR’S NOTE — Greg Hunt is research professor and coordinator of the Leadership Series at Central Baptist Theological Seminary. He also serves as president of Directions, Inc., a non-profit he and his wife, Priscilla, formed to serve people as they lead their organizations, relationships and lives. This column originally appeared at https://baptistnews.com/article/beyond-the-divisions-5-guiding-principles-for-christian-citizenship-in-a-polarized-nation/#.XxCUPShKhGM.