As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
Everyone is annoyed at times by a stupid rule or a bad decision by a leader. But lately, conservative Christian responses to government rules look and sound about the same as non-Christian attitudes on the political right: they’re dominated by anger, harsh judgments of motives, mockery, and defiance.
Sanctimonious defiance is still really just defiance. If you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still… etc., etc.
“ ‘Follower of Jesus.’ A follower of Jesus myself, I normally like to see those words on someone’s Twitter profile. Lately, however, I’m reluctant to scroll down for fear that this same follower has cussed out a politician on the social media platform or tweeted nasty things at a person they disagree with.” - Dan Darling
Conversation with author Tim Shorey “about the importance of open, honest, truthful communication, strategies to pursue peace with God and others, along with his book, Respect the Image: Reflecting Human Worth in How We Listen and Talk” - Servants of Grace
“Clearly parents want to raise their children to be successful adults, but they simply do not know how to accomplish this. They are seeking advice, but they have nowhere to turn except to professional coaches.” - Intellectual Takeout
“If a person despises me for defending life, filing lawsuits to protect the First Amendment, or deploying abroad to play my own very small part in battling vicious terrorists, then so be it. That’s what some on the Left have done.
“We are called to find common ground where it genuinely exists, improve our own arguments, and win over persuadable Americans by answering hostility with magnanimity, understanding, good humor, and love. We cannot do that while hiding in our narrow ideological foxholes.” - National Review
“In college, when we studied Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France, I realized my father was the disciple of a rather ancient set of values. He was a gentleman: someone who still practiced the art of manners, and as such, he was both inheritor and promulgator of the classical conservative tradition.” American Conservative
Read the series.
You can’t convince them to do it. You can’t make them do it, but you know it’s the right course of action, and you feel responsible. What can you do?
Several common responses should be promptly rejected. Empty threats should be off the table for Christian parents, spouses, coaches, teachers, coordinators, etc. (Eph. 6:9). That option only builds resentment, damages relationships, and reduces whatever respect the leader has. Ranting and sulking certainly don’t help (Gen. 42:36). Quietly stewing in bitterness finds its way out eventually, too (Num. 20:11-12).
Better options include reexamining our sense of responsibility, reexamining the potential tools, and refocusing on the tool of influence.
Discussion