It’s time for Christians on all sides to talk — even debate — about what divides us

(RNS) — A bishop recently told me of a minister in their church who was angrily attacked for the Scripture he had chosen for a Sunday service. The church member claimed it implied criticism of a particular presidential candidate. The sermon didn’t name either candidate or the election or even politics per se. But the church member felt it was meant as a direct critique of Donald Trump. The Scripture the minister used? The Beatitudes.

I’ve heard similar stories from other clergy around the country about attacks they have received because they raised particular Scriptures and issues of truth, or compassion, or justice, or loving our neighbors in public life. Some clergy have even received hate mail and threats against them by anonymous members of their congregations or wider communities.

We are in the midst of a national debate on politics, in the face of an election that offers moral choices about what we want the future of our country to be. Stories like the above tell me that we also need a conversation about the faith factor in this election.

One urgent matter to discuss is an old ideology that has made a comeback among supporters of Donald Trump. It’s called Christian nationalism, which puts one nation ahead of all others, Christians over other Americans, those of faith and those of no faith. White supremacy is embedded into Christian nationalism, since it refers back to the founding of the nation and its racial hierarchy of who belongs in this country and who doesn’t.

This is false religion, which can biblically be called an idolatry and a heresy. It should be subject to a debate between Christians and among churches who would claim to have Jesus at their core. This is a conversation about both religion and politics. And it is a debate about faith that we need to have in the next two months.

It is also splitting Christians in this country apart. I recently asked a pastor of a liberal congregation in a key battleground state if she was in conversation with more conservative clergy in this volatile campaign season. She simply replied, “No.” I then asked if many of them would call themselves “Christian nationalist” churches, and she replied “yes.”

How can we find ways to have conversations together about the values of faith that should be shaping our political participation and even our voting in the most important election in our lives and  perhaps since the Civil War?

People who feel left out, left behind and disrespected are easily drawn to authoritarianism and extremism. We cannot simply reject those we disagree with; we should instead respect their faith and try to help bring them back to the values at the heart of our shared religion. 

It’s time to go back to Jesus, as it is in any time of crisis, personal or public. Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” What does truth telling mean right now, when so many people are captive to lies about elections, or minority groups, or political opponents?

In the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Doesn’t that mean we need conflict resolvers, not conflict makers in a time when the political trajectory has become fear, that leads to hate, that results in violence? 

Jesus’ final test of discipleship is in the Gospel of Matthew’s Chapter 25, in which he spoke of the poor and most vulnerable and said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these, who are members of my family, you did it to me.” How does this economics of Jesus overturn our national politics where the people at the bottom are not the priority?

He particularly instructs us to welcome the “stranger,” and the Greek word in the text literally means “immigrant” or “refugee” — whom we now recognize as the subjects of such abuse, lies and threats of massive deportation and are now central to this political campaign.

The good Samaritan parable shows Jesus answering the question “Who is my neighbor?,” perhaps the most important question for democracy. He gave the example of a person who was considered an “other” by Jesus’ audience helping a someone who was “other” to him.

The Rev. Jim Wallis addresses the Center for Faith and Justice launch event at Georgetown University, Nov. 17, 2021, in Washington. Photo by Phil Humnicky/Georgetown Univ.

These issues of who belongs and how we treat our perceived opponents are not just political issues but religious ones. How can religion, rather than being partisan, be a faithful interrogator of candidates and policies in this election? What do the teachings of Jesus mean in this polarized political moment?

An honest, respectful and deep debate about faith before this election could challenge both political authoritarianism and the false white gospel of Christian nationalism.

(The Rev. Jim Wallis is director of Georgetown University’s Center on Faith and Justice and the author, most recently, of “The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy.” The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)