Reconciliation Party

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Originally written for and published in the South Jetty Newspaper

I remember attending a dinner shortly after I moved to Port Aransas at which one of our church members asked directly if I was a Democrat or Republican. She was active and outspoken in her party of choice, and I couldn't help but notice the campaign signs in her yard. I responded to her question with something like, "It really doesn't matter; that as a church, we should be about bringing people together, not dividing people." That was six years ago, and I feel that today even more than ever. I try to follow Jesus, who in his own time, sat down to break bread with people of divergent views and allegiances. He taught about political hot-button topics like taxes, and moved the conversation to a deeper, spiritual perspective, resisting the traps to agree with one polarity or another. St. Paul, in his letters, taught that as members of the Body of Christ, the old worldly identities fall away (no longer Jew or Greek, Slave or Free, Male or Female), and we find a new identity that is about living as beloved children of God, and treating others as such.

This is not a "let's all just get along" article, this is a "we live in broken and divided times and we need to do the difficult work of reconciliation" article. I didn't want to tell my church member if I was a Democrat or Republican because I believe the party of Jesus would be the Reconciliation Party. Mother Church should be about bringing people together, healing estrangement, and speaking truth to the powers that be when necessary. The healing is not going to start with CNN or FOX news, it will begin with conversations between individuals who seek to be in relationship instead of seeking to align with a political party at any cost.

The mission of the church, is about the work of reconciliation: restoring all people to unity with God and one another. The work of reconciliation is work. It requires abandoning the quest for power, and taking up the cross of vulnerability and love. Jesus taught the greatest two commandments are to Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Whatever political party you identify with more closely, try to recognize that the people in the other party, at least some of them, are seeking to follow God's call in their lives just as you are. Recognize that even the most obnoxious in the opposite party are also children of God, and may be so obnoxious because they have not experienced love. In our divided times, we might look back to those divided times that Jesus and the early church writers were dealing with and follow their example. Seek what unites us, love enemies, and trust in God more than in worldly powers. The Reconciliation Party won't appear on any public ballot; this election is in your heart. You can vote right now, and continue Jesus' work of healing a broken world in your very next conversation.

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