Show Notes
Peaceable and Kind host Derek Vreeland shares five ways you can be politically engaged, but rise ABOVE the ugliness and unhealthiness of our angry and divided political culture. Politics matter because politics affect people and people matter to God. So while politics matter, your soul matters more. The five practices keep you engaged in the world of politics without damaging your spiritual life.
The book mentioned in this episode:
Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christians Guide to Engaging Politicsby Eugene Cho
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Transcript
Narrator: Welcome to Peaceable and Kind, the podcast where we explore the transformative power of living out Jesus’ call to peace and kindness in our everyday lives. Each week your host, Derek Vreeland, will delve into the stories, scriptures, and practical steps that help us embody these essential Christian virtues. Join us as we talk with inspiring guests, reflect on Scripture, and discover ways to bring peace and kindness into our homes, communities, and the world. Whether you’re seeking encouragement, guidance, or a deeper understanding of your faith, Peaceable and Kind is here to support and uplift you on your spiritual journey Let’s embark together on this path of grace, compassion, and love, living out the true essence of our faith. Thank you for tuning in, and may the peace of God be with you always.
Derek Vreeland: Welcome back to another episode of the peaceable and kind podcast. I’m so glad that you’re listening in on this episode. And hopefully you heard the previous episode. I had my friend Tommy Brown Join me on that episode and I I want to know what you think about that. This is a brand new podcast And I’m experimenting with different ways to bring good quality Christian content to you. So what did you think about my conversation with Tommy Brown? Tommy has been a friend for a number of years. He is a pastor. He’s an author. He’s actually going back to school working on his doctorate degree. So he is reading and researching and writing and pastoring And I think he’s funny. I think one of the reasons that we’re friends is we share a similar kind of sarcastic uh sense of humor. But uh when I reached out to him I said, Tommy, I have this new podcast. Would you like to come on for an interview? He said, absolutely. Anything you want, I’m there. Then he asked me, what are we going to talk about? And I said, I don’t know. Let’s talk about church life. Let’s talk about your most recent book. Let’s talk about kindness. We had no run sheet. We had no plan. We hit record and started a conversation So I enjoyed it. I hope you’ve had a chance to listen to that episode. And if you have, let me know what you think about the interview style podcast. You can hit me up on social media at Derek Vreeland. I am on Twitter. I’m on Instagram If you’re still around the Facebook world, I’m there as well. So hit me up on social media. Let me know what you think about the interview style podcast. Let me know what you think about the podcast so far. I appreciate those of you who are subscribing, and I appreciate all of the positive comments I’ve received so far. I appreciate that, guys. Well, on this episode today, I’d like to talk about politics. Go ahead and take a deep breath because we are going to talk about politics. I know for some of you it feels like we are inundated with political messaging And perhaps for you it feels like maybe you’re drowning in a sea of political arguments and political ads. I mean, it’s a presidential election season after all. And everywhere you go, television, YouTube, internet, social media, the direct mailers coming in your box, we’re getting the political ads and political news and political commentary and political voices. And I understand it can be a little overwhelming. And sometimes we just need a break. Am I right? Sometimes we just need to come up to the surface and take a deep breath And so today I want to talk about how we as followers of Jesus can rise above During a presidential election season that is already becoming angry and angsty and antagonistic I want to help you rise above without becoming completely detached. I understand that we need a break from time to time, but I don’t think completely detaching from the world of politics is the way to go. I understand that some Christians choose to completely disengage. I have friends that do that. I think people completely disengage from politics altogether for different reasons. Sometimes good-hearted Christians will disengage for the sake of their mental health, for the sake of their spiritual health. Sometimes people have to disengage from the political world because it’s causing family stress. Maybe you live in a house that’s divided a bit politically. And I get all that. And you need to do what you feel God is leading you to do. There is no judgment from me, from those who say, I need an extended break from politics. For other Christians, they disengage for more, maybe we could say, theological or moral reasons. And let’s face it, voting in a modern democracy is a coercive act. It’s when 51% of the people tell 49% of the people what to do. And that’s what creates a lot of the vitriol and the antagonism. So some Christians say, you know, I just need to step aside and detach. But for me, I cannot completely detach. I I can’t completely set aside politics because politics matter because people matter That’s a line I got from Eugene Cho. Now here comes your book recommendation for this episode. Eugene Cho’s 2020 book, Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk. Subtitle A Christian’s Guide to Engaging Politics. If you don’t know, Eugene Cho is the former founder and pastor of Quest Church in Seattle. Currently, he is the president of Bread for the World, and he speaks a lot in evangelical circles. And in 2020, he came out with what I thought was one of the best books of the year. during the COVID pandemic and that presidential election season, a time where we felt so divided about everything Right? We were divided about how to respond to COVID. We were divided about vaccines. We were divided over politics. We were divided over issues of racial justice. And in 2020, Eugene Cho’s book came along, and what a great provocative title, Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk. And his book is about Christian engagement, and it was perfect for 2020 because we were divided on so many things, and it felt like everything in 2020 was becoming a political issue. And so Cho in his book gives a number of really, really sound principles, a lot of really good advice. But he has the provocative title, Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk, because he says in the book, we don’t need any more jerks for Jesus. There is a way to engage politically without being a jerk. And uh so I highly recommend the book. Thou shalt not be a jerk, Eugene Cho, but he’s the one who says politics matter because people matter. Politics informs policies that affect people. And so as frustrated as I get with our angry divided political system, I, as a follower of Jesus, simply can’t step away because I know that politics ultimately affect people And as followers of Jesus, we are called to love God first and foremost with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And we’re also called to love our neighbor as ourselves. And so for me to remain connected to a political world and to participate, in some level, at least through educating myself and voting and those type of things, I’m doing so not because I’m trying to force my will on another. I’m just simply trying to love my neighbor well. That’s always the question for me. Whether it is a moral question or a political question, I’m always asking myself: how can I best love my neighbors I think that’s a Jesus-informed question. That’s a Jesus-informed way of engaging with politics Where it’s not so much what do I want and what would benefit me, but what would benefit my neighbors, what would benefit us? Because God loves the world. You know, in the scriptures, the term the world is used in different ways. Of course, everyone knows John 3. 16, right? That’s the most popular, most famous Bible verse of all of them. For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son God loves the world. Now, it’ll say later in the scriptures in 1 John not to love the world, but that’s speaking of the world’s system that’s sick with sin worldliness that is against God, that’s anti-Christ, anti-God. But the world in terms of God’s good creation in terms of human societies, in towns and cities and counties and states and nations, that world of people God loves God loves our neighbors, even those neighbors you don’t get along with. Maybe you have neighbors like that. A couple years back I had a neighbor with three large dogs. Now she had a privacy fence, I have a chain lake fence. The dogs never got in my yard. But she would let those dogs out and they’d start barking at everything. A passing car. They would be barking. at squirrels up in the trees, and they would bark and bark and bark, and she would never call those dogs in. And I have to say there was more than one occasion I’m trying to sit on my deck and enjoy a nice cool fall afternoon or evening and I had to go inside ‘cause of those barking dogs. And uh I kinda felt guilty about it because I’m not anti dog, I’m pro dog, I’m pro animals, but Sometimes that neighbor would drive me nuts. Well, you know what? God loves that neighbor with the Barkie dogs. And maybe there are neighbors in your actual neighborhood or in your apartment complex that They’re not the people that are going to be first on the invite list to a party at your place, right? They’re people you don’t get along with. Well, the reality is that God loves them as well. And so I want to engage in politics for the sake of my neighbors. I want to be a p I want to be politically aware and politically connected enough. So that I am doing what I can to love my neighbors well. So politics matter because people matter Now, honestly, if if I’m speaking to you pastorally as a pastor, I would say that while politics matter, your soul matters even more Jesus said, What would you get if you gained the whole world and yet lost your soul or sense of self? And I have seen people jump headlong into the deep end of the political pool, and they they become obsessed with politics. And it causes their soul to shrivel. So I want you to engage politically If your conscience is so oriented that way and you feel led by God’s Spirit that way, I want you to engage politically, but I want you to do so in such a way that you don’t lose your soul. That you don’t lose your sense of self. And it’s so easy with our divided, antagonistic, and very hostile two-party system to jump in on one side of the political spectrum and make the other side the enemy And that sort of enemy-making machine can stir up all sorts of unhealthy things in your heart and soul. So I want you to feel empowered to make your voice known in the public square, to advocate for things politically that you believe in without losing your sense of self. without losing your soul. So in doing so, what I want to offer are five ways that you can engage politically And yet rise above the anger and the vitriol. Let me give you these five things. And these are purely suggestions. You can take this list of five things and say, you know what, I like number three and number four and the rest is garbage. That’s fine with me. But this has really grown out of my own practice, but then as a pastor, when people come to me privately and express their concern about things that are happening politically, things that are happening in our world, in this nation, or even things happening locally here where I live. And they want to engage politically, these are the things over the years that I have seen to be wise sound advice But it is just a suggestion. So you take it with a grain of salt. So let me give you these five things you can do. Five ways to engage politically and yet rise above the anger and all the vitriol. Number one, read your news, don’t watch your news. This bit of advice comes right out of my lived experience Like everyone else, I grew up watching the evening news. But I’ve lived long enough to see the rise of cable news where you can choose one news source from one side of the political spectrum. And now you can get political news on your phone. I suppose a number of younger people are primarily getting their news from YouTube clips And there is lots of media to be consumed out there. But when it comes to discovering what’s happening in our world, what I have found to be most healthy for my soul is not to watch it but read it. There was a time that people would deliver the news On paper to your doorstep, it was called the newspaper. And newspapers are almost all but extinct now, but there is still ways to read your news. So here’s what I did. I did this years ago. I deleted all of the news apps that were on my phone. And I quit following just about every news service online. I was getting a lot of my news on Twitter. So I unsubscribed from almost all news sources. And what I did is I downloaded the Associated Press app and I put that on my phone. Now, the Associated Press is considered the oldest uh originating news reporting service in the US. And by most measures, they’re the most neutral or the most centric, they’re the most balanced, they have the least amount of bias. Now there is no way to remove all biases from news reporting or any kind of communication there was a sense in modernity that we could be pure detached objective viewers of information and then communicate that. Well, the reality is we all have lenses, we all have presuppositions, but the Associated Press has a good reputation. I found myself when I was watching the news getting really drawn into maybe we’ll call it the drama. where I wasn’t interested in the drama. I just wanted to know what was happening because I want to stay educated. I want to be aware. Again, people matter. My neighbors matter and so I want to know what’s going on. So when I did that, when I made the switch from watching my news to just primarily reading my news, I felt a kind of peace rise up in my soul. It felt like I stepped away from the drama. and I was able to read what was happening and then evaluate from my own perspective. So if you want to rise above the anger and the vitriol, number one, read your news, don’t watch your news. Number two, slow down your politically oriented social media consumption. I’m talking about the clicking, the commenting the posting on things political. Certainly you want to make your voice known in areas that you feel passionate about Where God has stirred your heart. And so I’m not saying that you have to completely back out of all posting and commenting and clicking. But it’s a well-known fact that social media sites work on an algorithm. And the more that you are clicking and liking and commenting and posting, the more of that that you’re going to see. And so what I have found is a number of people get into these scrolling cycles, particularly at night. People will put something up on the TV, but they got their phone in their hand and they’re just scrolling and scrolling and scrolling. And the more clicking and commenting you’re doing, the more politically oriented social media you’re gonna get. Now again, I’ve advocated for reading your news, and if you read through social media, totally fine. But maybe just slow down that Rolling. If you catch yourself scrolling and it’s all just political content and it’s been 30 minutes, maybe, just maybe. You can put that phone down and find something to watch on TV or pick up a good book. But that’s the second bit of advice. Slow down your politically oriented social media consumption. Number three. Avoid taking pleasure in the failures of your political rivals. Now, this one I know is going to challenge a number of people. Maybe this challenges you So if you find yourself politically aligned on one side and you see failures on the other side, which you will, because we are all sinners, we are all We all have a propensity to fail, but if you take a giddy kind of pleasure when you see political enemies failing Just know that you have now been sucked into that enemy-making machine. And Jesus teaches us a better way. Jesus teaches us the way of loving our enemies and not taking uh pleasure, not not receiving pleasure from watching enemies fail So avoid taking pleasure in the failure of your political rivals. That’s number three. How about number four? Guard your heart from anger, rage, and malice. Paul in Ephesians chapter four gives us this exhortation to strip off to put off, to put away everything that doesn’t look like who we are as human beings created in the image of God. At the end of Ephesians chapter 4, Paul specifically mentions things like anger, rage, and malice. So as you’re engaging politically, once you start feeling anger and rage over something that’s happened politically, just know that that is an internal warning sign. Anger is not wrong. Anger is to the soul what pain is to the body. it is an indication that something’s not right. It’s a warning sign on the inside of us. Anger is often a secondary emotion. There’s typically something underneath our anger So if you’re engaging politically and maybe it’s just you’re reading, you’re scrolling, you’re in a conversation, once you feel that anger and rage building up, that should be a warning sign that you need to take a break. And so if you’re in a conversation with a friend, with a family member, and you’re talking about politics and you’re getting angry or they’re getting angry, let that be a warning sign that you need to take a break. Guarding your heart from anger and rage doesn’t mean that you won’t at times feel anger. It just means when that anger happens, you need to deal with it. That’s what we read in scripture in Ephesians chapter 4. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Be angry, but sin not. It’s okay to feel that anger, but once that anger begins to build, let that be a warning sign, okay, I need to take a break. And in doing so, you’ll guard your heart from anger and rage. Last thing I want to suggest, number five, is to lean into prayer. If as a follower of Jesus you are engaging politically, do so from a place of prayer. Prayer is a place where you can bring your anger. You know, when we deal with our anger, there’s a number of different things we can do with it. One thing we can’t do with our anger is suppress it and pretend like it’s not there. One thing you can do is to bring that anger into the presence of God and tell God about it in prayer. Sometimes Christians can be awful nice and polite in prayer, but if you read in the Psalms, for example. which is a an example of Jewish prayer. Those prayers in the book of Psalms are very, very honest. Even honest about the person praying, how they feel about God. God, are you asleep? Why don’t you rouse yourself, awake, and do something about this? So if you’re engaging politically, do so prayerfully, praying for your own soul. Praying for the thing you feel passionate about. And if something is making you angst or angry, bring that into the presence of God. Bring that anger to the throne room of God and leave it there Here’s what I’ve learned about prayer. We can bring our concerns, our anger, our anxiety into the presence of God. And in exchange, what we can receive is the peace of God. If we’re going to engage in politics in a way that’s peaceable and kind, We need that peace on the inside.
Guest: And that peace comes from prayer. Well, that’s it. Thanks for joining me on this episode. Thanks for listening. Go in peace and be kind.
This transcript was generated with AI and may contain errors.