UniteBoston

Nurturing Relational Connections Across Boston's Christian Community

The Church and Civic Engagement

Psalm 146:3-5 Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.  When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.

This Fall, UniteBoston is launching a series on the Church and Civic Engagement. We believe this is a kairos moment for the Christian Church. The national political strife of the past decade has caused damage and distrust, often compromising our witness and eroding our sense of belonging to one another. Many of us might be experiencing fatigue and frustration, while others are confident and hopeful about their position and community. Jesus Christ calls us to be one; yet, we grieve how too often, we see the “acts of the flesh,” (Galatians 5:20) including hatred, discord, rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, and factions being displayed by Christians over the “fruit of the Spirit”: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 

We believe this is an opportune moment for Christians not to mimic the divisions in society but to embody Christ’s call towards peacemaking and love of neighbor. We will be launching a four-week series on the UniteBoston newsletter featuring curated articles, resources, and action steps on how we can all engage in this time following Jesus with peace and courage across deep divides. Our hope is to stand as a public witness to our churches and city, demonstrating that the Way of Jesus is to cross divides and seek out the Imago Dei of all our neighbors across typical lines of difference. 

Here is a short checklist of principles adapted from the Search for Common Ground to help us stay grounded in Jesus Christ as the rhetoric escalates in the coming hours, days, and weeks, and a few proactive steps that everyone can take as everyday peacemakers in this particular moment. 

  • Prioritize Prayer: Pray for wisdom, discernment, and peace during the election. Lift up leaders, citizens, and the outcome, trusting that God is ultimately in control (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Elections are an opportune time to reflect and consider where our ultimate trust is placed: is it in Jesus Christ, or on a particular partisan candidate or policy? Our identity in Christ should be above any political affiliation, as God’s kingdom transcends earthly governments and our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).
  • Practice Discernment in Media Consumption: Limit exposure to sensationalized or divisive news and instead seek balanced, fact-based reporting. Read widely to expose your own biases. Information can be used to escalate tensions and alienate others, or it can be used to highlight our shared values, beliefs, and identities. Commit to media sources from both sides, such as utilizing Freespoke, an internet browser that labels media biases on news results (“left,” “middle,” or “right”) and check out their new election page delivering news and info from all viewpoints.
  • Reach Across Divides: Be honest with yourself about who is in your “out group” and which party or group is difficult to relate to. Pope Francis exhorts Christians to uphold a culture of encounter as Jesus did: “not just seeing, but looking; not just hearing, but listening; not just passing people by, but stopping with them.” Scott Brill, Executive Director of The Initiative, offers a short video reflection in how Jesus crosses the divide to be with us, and how the essential posture of the Jesus-shaped life is to step towards encounters across difference and divisions, rather than away.
  • Get Curious: Adopting a posture of curiosity, a presumption of goodness, and a generosity of spirit,  rather than revulsion to those who think differently than you, can help us turn in a more peaceful, constructive direction rather than isolating or escalating further. As a Christian, commit to upholding the image of God of those on the “other side,” rather than feeding into narratives that instill fear or a zero sum game. Encourage your family, friends, and others to uphold this heart posture and engage with one another in real conversations, rather than being influenced solely by media portrayals. Here is a great guide to conversations across the partisan divide from Essential Partners. 
  • Get involved in local politics: The Bible encourages believers to seek justice, defend the rights of the poor and marginalized, and act with integrity (Micah 6:8, Proverbs 31:8-9). Decisions made at the local level often have immediate effects on people’s daily lives, such as healthcare, housing, public safety, zoning laws, and infrastructure. By being involved, Christians can advocate for policies that align with biblical principles of fairness and compassion and put Christ’s call towards neighbor love in action.
  • Lead others to do the same: Wherever you sit—in your faith community, in your personal networks, in your organization—use this moment to open our hearts and reach across divides rather than retreat into our camps in fear or anger. You may not think you have a following, but all of us have a community that we influence, that listens to what we say and how we say it. Remember, we’re all in this together, we belong to each other, and by exercising these steps of everyday peacemaking, we can help prevent further division and promote unity.

It’s the week of the election! In this week’s newsletter, we want to offer some principles from various church traditions that can guide you as you vote. Regardless of your positions, please go out and vote!

Frameworks for Voting

Ballot Questions

On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Massachusetts voters will not only cast their votes for President and local officials but will also have the opportunity to influence state policy by deciding on five ballot questions. This process gives citizens a direct role in shaping laws.

We are also grateful to offer some good news amidst such a polarizing, divisive election season. Click here to read the story behind an influential gathering of 75 leaders that UniteBoston and ten other sponsoring organizations convened on October 7, 2024. Many of these leaders made a public commitment to Keep in Step with the Holy Spirit. We invite you also to consider upholding this same commitment in these days proceeding and following the election.

Curated Resources

Bookmark this landing page as we will update it with our newsletter campaign series each week! Also, click here for a google document with curated resources for church leaders on how they can lead their diverse communities well at this time and a list of resources from The Reunion Project.

Curated Resource List

Thanks for joining us in this journey! At a time when so many are either giving into avoidance and cynicism or turning towards hostility in our minds and hearts (and some in action), we believe that Christians who are walking in the way of Jesus as everyday peacemakers can shine brightly. 

“Civic discipleship recognizes that in the United States, engaging in our democracy — imperfect as it may be — is a critical way that we fulfill God’s call to justice, righteousness, and steadfast love.”

Our civic life can be overwhelming at times, yet following Christ has profound social, political, and economic implications. In the first week in our series, we are providing an introduction on civic discipleship from Sojourners. Click below to read insights on how Christians can engage well in politics and our civic life. 

LEARN MORE

We encourage Christians in Greater Boston to join The Reunion Project’s 31 Days of Unity Campaign. This is a national campaign to encourage personal reflection, prayer, and embodied practice to shift our focus away from polarizing politics and towards the unifying presence of Christ, fostering a shared life that transcends election results. For the 31 days of October, you can receive daily texts — each with a prayer for unity, scripture reference, and link to a short video reflection. 

Research now shows that the gap between political partisanship is increasing, with Democrats leaning more and more to the left and Republicans to the right. Additionally, there are an increasing number of people who describe those in another political party as close-minded, dishonest, unintelligent, and even immoral, a reflection of “negative partisanship,” voters being motivated more by hatred of the opposing party than by loyalty to their own.

How we relate to one another matters. We are called to love our neighbor, even those whom we disagree with. How can we disagree well? 

Transcending Toxic Polarization from Matthew 5:9 Fellowship offers three markers of toxic polarization: viewing people as binary instead of complex, viewing differences as combative instead of complementary, and viewing opponents as evil instead of wrong. 

READ MORE

Additionally, Elizabeth Grady Harper, Executive Director of the Boston Faith and Justice Network, shares some insights about how we can find Christian unity amidst political difference. Click below to listen to her sermon or read her blog on the need to embody humility, practice curiosity, find common ground, and remember our foundation as Christians.

READ ELIZABETH’S BLOG
  • Take “One Small Step” by having a conversation with someone on the “other side” through Story Corps.  This initiative brings people with different views together not to debate politics, but to learn about one another’s lives and simply get to know each other as people. Science tells us we can combat the polarizing effects of news and social media just by talking to each other one-on-one again. Because when we approach each other with curiosity, we realize we have more in common than we think.
  • One Anothering: This 8-week program by The Colossian Forum invites Christians to cultivate mindsets and habits to grow in Christian virtue. This isn’t about changing political positions, but learning how to hold others’ beliefs –and still be in relationship with them. You’ll learn how to show up and love one another in these politically polarizing times.

“Christian Nationalism” is a buzzword that is thrown around a lot these days – but what exactly is it? Christian nationalism is a belief system that merges national identity with Christian identity, advocating for the idea that a nation, particularly the United States, is uniquely chosen by God and should be governed according to Christian principles. Proponents often believe that the country’s laws and policies should reflect a specific interpretation of Christianity, blurring the lines between church and state.

While some view Christian nationalism as a way to preserve moral and cultural values, at UniteBoston, we believe it distorts the true message of the gospel. It undermines our nation’s core democratic principles by rejecting the separation of church and state and promoting the idea that positions of power should be seized by any means necessary. In fact, some research shows that “Christian nationalist views intersect with white identity, anti-Black sentiment, support of patriarchy, antisemitism, anti-Muslim sentiments, anti-immigrant attitudes, authoritarianism, and support for violence.”

READ MORE:

  • Sign this statement on Christian Faith and Democracy. We invite Christians in Greater Boston to sign this statement that clarifies the relationship between the Christian Faith and Democracy, and the need to make space for religious freedom.  The statement is separated into several sections including: On the Imago Dei and Human Dignity, On Human Sin, On Loving the Stranger and the Enemy, and more.

In his book The Righteous Mind, Jonathan Haidt writes, “Morality binds and blinds. It binds us into ideological teams that fight each other as though the fate of the world depended on our side winning each battle. It blinds us to the fact that each team is composed of good people who have something important to say.”

As Christians, we often wonder how fellow believers can hold drastically different political views despite sharing the same faith. It’s easy to oversimplify the answer by assuming one side is more theologically sound or spiritually committed. However, our political beliefs are shaped by various influences, such as upbringing, community, and theological frameworks.

While the secular world thrives on division, conflict, and identity against, the way of Jesus calls for grace, humility, and love for those on the “other side.” There is often Biblical evidence for both sides of political positions, and we must avoid dismissing those with differing views as unbiblical or unfaithful. Instead, we are called to understand the complexity of these differences with compassion and openness, even if we disagree.

Read the resource from the Matthew 5:9 fellowship below to see three theological systems by which our political systems are often based, so we can grow in grace and understanding with those of differing political views:

  • Church and Culture: Separatism or Transformationalism?
  • Secular Authority: Humble Submission or Open Disobedience?
  • The Government: Necessary Evil or Righter of Wrongs?
READ MORE

Host a “Love Anyway” Feast – Common Ground USA is launching “Love Anyway” Feasts, an intentional campaign after election day to remind us of the power of community and offer an alternative to “us and them” politics. They want to see people walk away from this political season and still love their families, friends and neighbors: especially ones who voted differently than them. Their vision is to have thousands of dinners being hosted by individuals and groups from all sectors of society and walks of life during the week of November 8-17. FAQ

It’s the week of the election! In this week’s newsletter, we want to offer some principles from various church traditions that can guide you as you vote. Regardless of your positions, please go out and vote!

Frameworks for Voting

Ballot Questions

On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, Massachusetts voters will not only cast their votes for President and local officials but will also have the opportunity to influence state policy by deciding on five ballot questions. This process gives citizens a direct role in shaping laws.

Last, Christians Can Be Political Without Pledging Allegiance to Partisanship. We can be peacemakers when we focus less on the “What” or “who” by why and how. Check out this article by Sojourners to learn more. 

LEARN MORE

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