It’s Up to Us to Heal the Divide
Most Americans will agree that our country is more divided than ever. As people of God, our faith must be through Him, with our eyes fixed on Jesus. We cannot rely on politicians to heal the country. We have the power through the Holy Spirit to live godly lives. Doing so collectively is the way to get the country back on track and heal the divide.
We must listen to each other. As our divisions have grown, an alarming number of people have felt marginalized, with their voices and concerns going unheard. Polarization is a result of the yearning to belong to something – one group or another. From there it is easy to only listen to those who believe what we do and dismiss those that disagree. In reality, we all belong to only one group – the Body of Christ. As such, we need to reach out and listen to those on the other side, or to people that are not normally in our circle. We can only come together when we understand where those different that ourselves are coming from and show respect for their viewpoints.
We need to speak only what we know to be true. There is so much noise and half truth floating around in today’s news and media. Social media tends to amplify the problem and push the narrative to the extremes. Using restraint will go a long way in increasing civil discussion. We are called by God to be people of Truth and to seek it out – we must do so responsibly.
Finally, we should take a hard look at how social media is impacting our lives. Such platforms are addicting, but often do not reflect reality. Productive conversations are rare, and people verbally assault each other without mercy, under the cloak of anonymity. How less anxious and tense might we feel just by avoiding comment sections under articles! To be true followers of Christ, we are called to take in only what is holy. Feeding ourselves spiritual garbage will not bring us closer to each other or closer to God.
If we, as a Christian community, focus on our relationship with Jesus and follow him by obeying his commands, we will renew this country and heal the divide!
