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How should Christians engage in partisan politics? What does "speaking the truth in love" and righteous anger look like when it comes to convictions of faith? Joanna Meyer and Dustin Moody talk with Scott Sauls, senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville and author of A Gentle Answer, about the role of Christians in politics.
On partisan loyalty:
"Jesus doesn't want his followers to obsess about partisan politics and confuse partisan loyalty with loyalty to him. If it is harder for people to discern that you are a follower of Jesus than it is for them to discern that you're a Republican or a Democrat, you're probably missing the mark. And if people scratch their heads a bit about where you stand politically, you're probably in a pretty good place."
On speaking the truth in love:
"The less we are emotionally tied to a party and the more we are emotionally tied to the causes of Christ, the more likely we are to be the kinds of people who speak the truth in love."
On the meaning of religious freedom:
"[Religious freedom is] the freedom to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you and bless and don't curse those who persecute you. It's the freedom to be meek and know that as a meek one, you're going to inherit the earth. It's the freedom to hunger and thirst for righteousness for you will be filled. It's the freedom to give your life away. That's what religious freedom is in the Christian construct."
On righteous anger:
"Being a Christian doesn't mean being a nice person all the time. It doesn't mean being a polite person all the time. It doesn't mean sweeping offensive things under the rug. It means addressing offensive things in such a way that we simultaneously can hate what is evil and express our hate for what is evil while clinging to what is good."
On moving toward difficult people:
"The more we can subject ourselves to the scrutiny of people who disagree with us, the more likely we're going to come to a more Christ-centered place."
Get to know Scott at his blog, ScottSauls.com.
Read more from Scott in A Gentle Answer* and Jesus Outside the Lines.*
Join us in September for "The Politics of Neighborly Love."
*–Purchase with purpose. Amazon donates to Denver Institute when you shop at smile.amazon.com.
