Stepping into the pulpit takes courage in any season, but especially in the context of political polarization.
[See part 1: “Preaching to Those Who May Stay Home this Election Day“]
Studies show that American voters are actually less ideologically polarized than they think they are.1 Yet there is an understandable concern and caution among faith leaders about the political polarization they are navigating in congregations.
Pastors describe preaching about social issues as anxiety-producing and “like walking on eggshells.” Colleagues share their surprise when a text they have preached on for years provokes fierce backlash because it is suddenly deemed “partisan.”
There are many excellent resources and programs that address political polarization in church and society. They offer tactics to enhance listening, build bridges and increase understanding.
This article, however, will explore core theological foundations that address how God unites us across divisions. Here are some that speak to me:
Confession of sin
When I attended my first depolarization workshop, I thought I would learn tips and techniques for understanding and being in dialogue with people of diverse political orientations and convictions.
Instead, the focus began with building awareness of my own internal polarizing thoughts and attitudes, including the ways I stereotype, dismiss, or feel contempt for people who think differently. Ouch. I resisted acknowledging that I was part of the problem—I was attending the workshop after all!
Yet once I made the difficult step to recognize and confess my own culpability, the admission jolted me from judging others to really listening to them. This deeper listening helped the participants see we are more alike than we knew.
As the Lutheran order for confession of sins acknowledges, “we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves.” The workshop did not use the terms confession or repentance, but the experience was liberating. Mutual confession opened us to deeper encounters with one another despite divergent political perspectives.
We cannot make our way out of hyper-partisan polarization without a change of heart and reorientation that begins with confession that we all have fallen short, receiving absolution, and taking to heart Jesus’ invitation to new life.
Imago Dei and vocation
We read in the first chapter of Genesis that human beings are made in the image of God (imago dei). This divine imprint confers individual dignity to human beings as we reflect God’s presence in our appearance and actions.
Imago dei also confers communal responsibilities to humans, as illustrated by God’s invitation to the first humans to till and keep the garden together. When we remember that we are made in the image of God, we can participate in God’s creative work of fostering the well-being of social and political communities, as well as in care of the earth.
Our Christian vocation places us squarely into shared human activities that require social cooperation, communication, and coordination that faithfully reflect God’s image as creator and reconciler.
Bearing the image of God is not an end, but an invitation to a vocation of seeking the common good, especially for those who have been marginalized in society. Bearing the image of God is taking up the ministry of reconciliation, even with those who vote differently.
Grace and justification
God’s grace, freely and generously given, liberates us from sin that separates us from God and one another. Hyper-partisan polarization is one measure of that distance when feelings of fear, hate, or suspicion of others who see the world differently keep us from seeing that they, too, are beloved by God.
Martin Luther described baptism as a daily dying and rising with Christ. God’s grace assures us that we die daily to the temptation of fixing our identity to a political position or ideological stance. God’s grace invites us to rise renewed each day, anchored in God’s unmerited, overflowing love for us that in turn shapes us to pour out the same love, compassion and care for our neighbors.
Justification by grace through faith, Martin Luther’s central insight of the Protestant Reformation, states that we are born to new life through God’s forgiving and renewing mercy and are justified when we receive this salvation in faith. God works through the Holy Spirit to invite us into renewal of life expressed through practices of love, forgiveness and grace in the life of the baptized.
Justification is not just an individual event. It also shapes community by building bridges across human divides and polarization.
In the book Ordinary Faith in Polarized Times: Justification and the Pursuit of Justice, Amy Carr and Christine Helmer explores justification by faith as a theological framework that builds and supports Christian belonging in one Beloved Community. This “ordinary faith” flows from God’s justification, anchoring human identity in grace and its fruits, rather than any ideological or political identity.
Justification is an invitation into “living into the spacious grace of God” where grace allows us to hear and engage the insights of all members of Christ’s body—especially those with whom we disagree.
Ministry of reconciliation
With fears of election-related violence, speaking to tensions early can provide grounding and guidance for congregants engaging polarization and wondering how to respond in faith.
Any text that speaks to unity in diversity or reconciliation across divisions offers an opportunity to reflect on political polarization, the damage it does to God’s intention for our families, congregations, communities and nation.
Those same texts can also plant seeds of reorientation, connected to core theological themes such as confession, vocation and grace, to foster deeper awareness and possibility for life together.
Notes
- Karl Vick, “The Growing Evidence That Americans Are Less Divided Than You May Think,” Time, July 2, 2024. https://time.com/6990721/us-politics-polarization-myth/.