Churches can talk about polarizing topics — even politics — if they enter those conversations seeking transformation rather than conformity, church consultant Matt Cook told participants at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in St. Louis June 26.
Cook, director of the Center for Healthy Churches, led a breakout session called “Responding to Polarization: Beyond Fight or Flight.” Before he joined the center, he was a pastor in Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas.
“Political issues matter, but politics is a dangerous undertaking,” Cook warned. “We shouldn’t avoid speaking and acting, but we need to prepare to do so in ways that foster love. In short, we should start in peace through prayer.”
Matt Cook
Conversations about divisive issues can lead to polarization, he acknowledged, defining it as “the process by which more and more people come to hold opinions at the far ends of the spectrum of belief within that society.”
Americans are polarized on multiple issues, he said.
Citing surveys conducted by Pew Research Center, he reported vast majorities of American adults believe “none” or “not too much” common ground exists on seven key issues. Those topics and the percentages of Americans who believe the country is divided on them are:
- Abortion, 80%
- Guns, 80%
- Immigration, 78%
- Budget deficit, 71%
- Environment, 68%
- Economy, 67%
- Foreign policy, 60%
Another aspect of polarization is its ability to shape “the perceptions that develop of those with whom we agree or disagree, as more people come to hold diverging convictions,” Cook said.
“We are in the midst of a centrifugal moment.”
“We are in the midst of a centrifugal moment,” in which polarization over divisive issues is “sending us away from each other,” he observed.
The current era stands alongside the American Revolution, the Civil War and the Civil Rights era as the fourth period in U.S. history in which centrifugal cultural forces are dividing the population, he said.
How to talk
But cultural fragmentation does not mandate polarization within churches, Cook stressed.
“It is entirely possible for congregations to have conversations about topics on which they normally disagree — even politics. Start with prayer, then move to table fellowship (talking about important topics in small groups). When you give people the opportunity to tell their story, you discover how amazingly disarming it is.”
Churches hesitate to initiate such conversations because leaders fear splintering their congregations if members talk about divisive subjects.
“A lot of CBF churches are big-tent churches,” he said. “We call them ‘purple churches,’ mixtures of red and blue ideas. But they’re not purple churches; they are red-and-blue zebra churches. It’s not like we’re all in the middle. There are differing convictions under the same roof.”
Churches also avoid talking politics because congregational leaders are “children of revivalism,” he explained. “The goal is to get people into heaven. So why talk politics?”
“We have not developed the skill set we need to handle the polarization.”
Unfortunately, avoidance of conflict has left congregations ill-equipped to process challenging topics, Cook admitted. “We have not developed the skill set we need to handle the polarization.”
Fortunately, the 12th chapter of the New Testament book of Romans provides insight into how to process polarization, he noted. The second verse of that chapter says, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
This is part of the “practical advice” the Apostle Paul offered in the closing chapters of the book, Cook said.
“Chapter 12 shows what transformation looks like. You can’t think of yourself more highly than you should. We’re part of a body that is bigger than we are. We are members of one another, not individuals. And we must love one another with mutual affection and outdo one another in showing honor.”
Habits of transformation
So, churches can learn how to talk about and process potentially divisive topics if they adopt six “habits of transformation,” Cook said. They are:
Step 1 — God-first mentality
“Worship God alone; don’t idolize politics,” he explained. “We have to remind ourselves to put things in the right order. … When we give politics too much power in democracy and democracy doesn’t deliver, what do we do? We want to get rid of democracy. This is true on the right and on the left.”
When Christians adopt a God-first mentality, they “sacrifice like Jesus,” he said. “We give up our bodies for love.”
“Are we going to do more for the marginalized by throwing rocks at those who are doing the marginalizing? Or are we going to do the hard, messy work of loving people into changing,” he asked. “Our goal is to turn them into neighbors and then into brothers and sisters.”
In this step, prayer is the antidote to polarization. “We align ourselves with God,” he said.
Step 2 — Humble self-image
“There is a God, and it’s not you,” Cook reminded. “Our convictions matter, but we don’t have all the answers.”
And the antidote to polarization is confession, he said, noting confession leads to “transformation of self.”
Step 3 — Loving mindset
“Empathy is the way of Jesus,” he stressed. “Putting ourselves in others’ shoes helps us understand their passion and their pain.
“You don’t have to agree to have empathy. The people who bother you the most almost always are people who are in pain. Something happened to them to make them not only have that conviction but also frantically hold onto it. What if we could get behind that pain?”
“The people who bother you the most almost always are people who are in pain.”
The loving mindset antidote to polarization is story sharing, or getting to know one another, he said.
Step 4 — Blessing
“Whoever loves the best or loves the most wins,” Cook observed. “That’s what God is going to take and run with. A key purpose of Christian engagement in politics is to turn enemies into neighbors and neighbors into family, and blessing or loving is the way to do this.”
That’s why blessing enemies is the antidote to polarization in this step.
Step 5 — Unity in diversity
“We aim for unity, not uniformity,” he said. “The challenge here is yielding to the temptation to require uniformity. But we don’t have to let go of our convictions in order to enjoy unity.
“Congregations should offer the model for love amidst diversity. … And an enduring relationship is the antidote to polarization.”
Step 6 — Proactive structures
“Individualism is limited amidst polarization,” Cook asserted. “Lasting change almost never happens on an individual basis,” but change more often lasts when striving for change is done in community.
“We can’t think our way out of toxic politics,” he added. “We have to adopt transformational habits and practices.”
In this step, embodied love, patience and humility are the antidotes to polarization.
Christians can overcome polarization when they change their model of political engagement, he said.
“What is the point of American political engagement?” he asked. “To win.
“What is the purpose of Christian political engagement? Help people worship God. Turn enemies into neighbors. Turn neighbors into family. And together, build a kingdom.”
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