What If We Share More in Common than We Think?
In politics, and perhaps in apologetics, we probably share more common ground than we know
According to a recent study,
Democrats and Republicans both imagine that almost twice as many of their opponents hold “extreme” views than actually hold those views.
The more news you consume, the less likely you are to assess your opponents’ views accurately.
The more you post about politics on social media, the less likely you are to assess your opponents’ views accurately.
The fewer friends you have who hold political perspectives that are different from your own, the less likely you are to assess your opponents’ views accurately.
What’s more, more than three-quarters of Americans recognize that our differences are not so great that we can’t find common ground, according to the study. “While Americans do indeed hold different values and disagree on key issues, we underestimate how much more we have in common.”
Your Non-Christian Neighbor Probably Isn’t a Late-Term-Abortion-Celebrating, Anti-Religious-Liberty Hater of Christians
I wonder if there is something to be learned about apologetics here.
Could it be that consuming high levels of media content that support your own perspectives doesn’t help when it comes to understanding how non-Christians actually see the world? Might it be that those who constantly lob social media grenades about apologetics aren’t particularly effective when it comes to sharing the gospel with actual non-Christians? And what about those who do this while entangling their apologetics with their preferred political polarities? Is it possible that the views of the typical non-Christian are actually not quite as extreme as you might think, based on social media and the echo chambers of Christian conferences and classes?
Sure, there are real people with extreme perspectives on everything from abortion to LGBTQ+ issues and everything in between. But most of your non-Christian neighbors probably aren’t in the most extreme categories—just like you as a Christian aren’t necessarily living on the far-flung fringes of fundamentalism simply because you believe that every word of the Bible is true.
I’m not pretending that political common ground provides a perfect analogy for our engagement with non-Christians. It doesn’t. After all, both political parties represent minglings of good policies and bad ones, and neither platform lines up perfectly with the Word of God. In contrast, to be Christian or non-Christian is to be living or dead, regenerated or in rebellion, yearning for God’s presence or suppressing God’s truth. There is a polarity between life and death between a Christian and a non-Christian that runs far deeper than any political polarity ever could.
At the same time, there is a place for recognizing a human tendency to stereotype those who disagree with us in ways that identify everyone in a particular group with its most extreme representatives.
When we see an entire class of people in terms of their most extreme and least rational representatives, it simplifies our arguments against them.
It also means that our arguments are largely useless when it comes to engaging with these people, because they don’t recognize their own perspectives in the arguments that we’re making.
… And Even If Your Neighbor Actually Is a Late-Term-Abortion-Celebrating, Anti-Religious-Liberty Hater of Christians, You Still Probably Have More In Common than News and Social Media Would Lead You to Believe
If you step away from screens and keyboards into the lives of real people, you may find that their perspectives are messier and more complex and less polarized than you thought. Chances are, due to the witness of God’s truth in their hearts, many of them have pangs of conscience about some aspects of abortion; most of them probably want you to be able to live out your faith freely, even if they despise what you believe. And all of them know that they need something greater than themselves to deal with their guilt and shame.
So step away from the stereotypes and talk to them.
If you do, you’ll probably find an area or two where you agree—and those are precisely the places where gospel conversations can begin.
Thank you for this post. What you shared is encouraging, interesting, and convicting. Your advice to step away from media and personally talk to people is a point well taken and a practice that seems to be lacking among conservative evangelicals at this moment in history. People need Jesus and we (the church) certainly need to remember that as we order our lives.
I just want to add a thought that occurred to me. Reading this helped me realize that I probably do consume too much media. However, I find that my concerns about the far left have little to do with my neighbors, even the ones with whom I interact on social media who hold extreme views. My concerns are more about those on the far left who have a great deal of money and power (politicians, entertainers, business moguls, and global leaders who have publicly stated atheistic views.) I think they are damaging our society. Granted, they need Jesus too.
Just my two cents worth. Thank you again for this post and all you do to equip the saints. Your article is a great reminder that I need to be about the job of making disciples. Blessings to you.