3 Keys to Being an Instrument of Peace This Election Season

In our loud world, one of the most loving gifts we can offer to people is a listening ear – even if we don’t agree with them. When we’re willing to listen to people express their fears, beliefs, and ideas, we’re actually showing love. Listening doesn’t have to mean we agree with them. But listening shows that we’re willing to honor them as someone whom God loves just as much as He loves us.
 
Many times, peoples’ political leanings are based on their fears – fear of lack, fear of harm, fear of being disliked. Sometimes, those fears are irrational, and it can frustrate us as we listen. It’s important to understand that irrational fear is precisely that—irrational, which means that rational arguments have no effect. You can’t talk people out of irrational fear with facts – fear is too primal for that. And there’s only one thing stronger than that primal emotion – love. 

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.“ - 1 John 4:18

When we’re willing to listen to people’s fears and point them to Christ, we’re showing love and opening the door for relationships that lead to transformation. 

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Once people feel heard they’re much more open to listening. Sometimes, listening is all that’s needed and you don’t need to speak. But there are times that we should carefully and wisely offer a response. The key is, when the moment comes for you to speak, make sure you use minimum necessary force.
 
 We live in a time of people “dropping truth bombs” and “destroying the other side.” It feeds our ego to win an argument. The thing is, you may defeat your foe in an argument, but people who have been defeated don’t like to hang out with the people who defeated them. You can win the argument but lose the relationship.
 
 When it comes to speaking with non-Christians, apologist Francis Schaeffer talked about the importance of leaving room for the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and change of mind. He said eventually a non-Christian worldview will fall apart. When you bring someone through a calm discussion to the point where their argument breaks down, it’s natural to want to push them at that point. Schaeffer says this is the exact moment you back off and leave room for the Holy Spirit to speak to them. Changing your mindset can be slow and difficult for people. We have to trust God’s ability to lead them gently to the truth. If you’ve established yourself as someone willing to listen, using only the minimum necessary force, you’ll be the natural person for them to come to when they have more questions and are considering changing their mind on an issue. 

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I wrote a book called Love Slows Down that talks about how all anger is rooted in fear. Typically, anger comes from feeling a threat in one of three areas:

1. Security (physical, emotional, financial)
2. Connection (feeling loved, valued, and esteemed by others)
3. Empowerment (the ability to make choices)
 
Whenever you feel anger, you can be pretty confident that it’s because you feel a threat to one of those three areas. The good news is that anger isn’t a sin – it’s just a sign. It only turns into a sin if you respond to it in the wrong way by lashing out in your words or actions. Anger is like a dashboard light, indicating that there’s something you need to look into under the hood. When you feel angry about something happening around you, it’s always because of something happening inside you. When you feel anger rising up, it’s a sign that you need to address something happening inside of you. In a weird way, anger and frustration can be gifts that help us see areas of our lives that need to be given to God.
 
The emotion of anger is often closely related to feelings about politics because often our political opinions are related to our fears about security, connection, and empowerment. And anger tends to create more anger. Oftentimes, we respond to other peoples’ anger with our own anger. But, as James says, “…human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” (James 1:20) When you feel yourself getting angry at someone for what they believe or express online (or in person), take a moment to step back and calm down. Be slow to speak. Repeat the prayer of Francis: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”
 
See if you can figure out what fear the person is trying to express. See if you can find a common connection with that person and their fear. Ask God to help you with your own fears. Then, ask God to show you how you can love that person right in the middle of their fear. They may not respond well because they’re angry. But just knowing that an angry person is a fearful person can help us have patience with them (and ourselves) as we navigate conversations and relationships.

May we be those who “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16) by being instruments of peace this election season.

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