Which Side Are You On? The Great Divide – Day 12 of Handmade
Divide
We like to play dominoes at my house. Usually Mexican Train.
But some people use dominoes to create a chain. They line up hundreds of dominoes in elaborate patterns.
Predicting Each Other
Then with one slight nudge on only one domino, the whole chain is set in motion. You can predict its exact direction and outcome.
Sometimes we do that with each other, too.
With only one question, we predict everything about a person.
For instance:
Do you love President Trump or do you detest him?
Depending on your answer to that question, we’ll predict how you’ll answer a whole array of other questions. We’ll label you right or left and be done.
Other one-question-only issues that can start the domino effect include:
- Believe Brett Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford?
- Allow more people into our country or build a wall to keep them out?
- Stand or kneel for the National Anthem?
- Fox or CNN?
- Arm our teachers or keep guns out of the schools?
There seems to be a great divide.
And people on both sides claim the name of Jesus.
Lord, have mercy.
Trade in the Dominoes
I do believe with God that all things are possible.
But two years into this, I don’t see us closing the gap that divides us.
Instead, it just seems to widen.
Maybe we need to abandon our domino set of questions entirely.
And ask different kinds of questions instead. Ones that would help us understand each other clearer and less stereotypically. If we’ll really, really listen to each other’s answers.
- What are you afraid of?
- What do you need to feel safe?
- What do you need to be healthy?
- In what ways is your family hurting?
- What blessings can you share with others?
Because I still have to believe, deep down, that we’re all more alike than we are different.
At our foundation, we all want safe environments. We all want good health. We all want meaningful work and purpose and relationships. We all want to be treated with respect and for others to be treated with respect, too.
We agree on those things.
God, we need your help on all the rest.
Three Questions
Answer any or all of our three questions of the day:
(1) Is anyone in your family left-handed instead of right-handed? (Not a political question!)
(2) How closely do you follow politics?
(3) How can God use believers to bridge gaps between people instead of cause more division?
* * *
What are your answers? Please share in the comments.
My answers
(1) We all happen to be right-handed in my immediate family.
(2) I follow politics very closely, more in the past two years than ever.
(3) Maybe actually serving each other in the name of Jesus with actions instead of trying to convince others with words that we are right and they are wrong?
More here
- Who to Love? For How Long?
Who are you supposed to love? The person in front of you. For how long? Always. - Drench Your Words in Grace
Are your words drenched in grace? Whether right or wrong on interpretation, question motives cautiously. - How to Love Well in Our Culture
How can we love with both grace and truth in our culture? It’s more about how we live than what we say. - 3 Ways to Listen So People Will Talk
Do you know how to listen so people will talk? 3 ways to quiet down so you can hear the hearts of others.
Get the whole Handmade series here
Your post is a breath of fresh air today, Lisa!
1) I am left-handed.
2) I have followed politics less closely during this White House administration, but am now happily following Texas politics in anticipation of November elections!
3)I believe listening, loving, and serving bring people together.
1) My blood family (what is the right term? Me, my siblings and my parents) are half-and-half; me, my wife & our son are all right-handed;
2) Intensely. Used to be active.
3) Politics seems increasingly fractious and inhuman, and that is one of the things that made Christianity increasingly attractive to me (in the early 2000s; other things were going on too ofc). The attraction was the belief in an underlying unity and a common humanity (i.e. as members of the body of Christ), and a kind of humility-with-confidence (or vice versa). As politics becomes more degraded, Christianity will shine brighter.
1) All my immediate family is right-handed. I’m not sure about extended family.
2) I follow politics only very lightly. It’s one of my husband’s major interests, however, so I hear more than I would normally care for because of videos and newscasts that he listens to. I am grateful we have a voice in this country, and I believe in voting, in being aware, in writing our representatives, etc. But I have no hope or trust in politics. I’ve been hearing the some of the same rhetoric, promises, and accusations for 40 years. Even the best of them don’t do everything they promised or everything their followers hope they will. I *hate* political talk at the dinner table.
3) Realize that good people can differ on a wide variety of areas, drop the condescending rhetoric, treat people with respect, listen rather than assuming. Remember that our hope is in Christ, not having “the right guy” in office, and our main responsibility is to shine for Him and help people see Him rather than converting people to our political viewpoint.
1) I am the only left-handed member of my family. At one point, I was very ambidextrous. Now, I only use my left-hand to write on paper. Everything else I do with my right-hand, including writing on a dry erase board. It’s weird.
(2) I follow politics a little more closely than I use to. I believe I should stay aware of the issues so that my voting decisions can be knowledgeable and not just one-sided.
(3) One of the things that I see Jesus doing in the Bible is meeting people where they are. I spoke about this is a recent blog post; we can’t meet people where they are if we have no clue of where that is. A lot of times, I see (and have been guilty of it myself) people believing that they are “right” about a topic and refusing to hear anything that would contradict or potentially alter their world view. Often, I have NO idea what I am talking about because I have never experienced something someone else has. And if I don’t listen, I can’t even have sympathy, realizing like Lisa notes here that we are more alike than we think. We won’t know that if we don’t listen. Jesus was so loving and nonjudgmental (although He, alone, has the right to be a judgmental), that even prostitutes felt comfortable in His presence. I’m not sure if anyone can say the same about me.
Okay…time to answer a few more questions…
1) Only our son-in-law is left-handed and no one in the bloodline family is.
2) I am a history lover and hence have followed politics since I was in high school and loved to talk history and how it related to the political landscape with my dad. I look for solid sources and tend to avoid the news sources that have increasingly become op-ed versus straight news reporting. (Our daughter also minored in politics in college.)
3) One thing is to keep front and center that we are a part of His Kingdom first of all and not to get caught up in political debate and conversation unless the Lord leads. When I am connecting with other believers, I really want to focus on Kingdom things rather than politics. I have unfollowed folks on Facebook because of the ranting and raving of political opinions that are opinions versus facts. In reality, we are not doing well at listening to one another in this era and have such bitterness and hatred that we cannot conceive the other person may have a valid opinion. I honestly believe this is also a part of the enemy’s scheme to create chaos and confusion and division across every spectrum of our life and cause us to forget who the real enemy is. Sadly, he is good at what he does and has been winning too much in this and Christians have fallen in step to take the bait.
Great post, Lisa! Love your questions.
1) My brother’s left-handed.
2) I don’t follow politics closely; It just irritates me. I do pay attention to the headlines, since that usually tells me what I need to know and then some instead of reading an entire article or watching an argument on TV. Worst thing in the world is a political debate. Uh!
3) I think Christians should be less concerned with taking sides and boycotting and more concerned with loving each other. We just look like everyone else when we’re focused on positions of the world rather than souls.
I too love to play dominos, especially Mexican Train. 1) Nope, no one is left-handed 2) I don’t follow politics too closely. 3) I think we all need to love each other the way Jesus does. Of course, it is easier said than done.
Thank you for sharing with Grace & Truth Christian Link-Up.
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