How Political Division Impacts Christian Unity / Miroslav Volf #AskMiroslav

For the Life of the World / Yale Center for Faith & Culture

Miroslav Volf and Evan Rosa take listener questions about how to live faithfully in this political moment, focusing especially on questions of how political division impacts Christian and civil unity.

Featuring:

• Miroslav’s social media bio gloss of the Prayer of St. Francis: "Before I tweet, I pray: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.”
• Dr. Bethany Keeley-Jonker: "I'm struggling to balance unity in the body with my firm conviction that the Trump presidency is hostile to my most deeply held Christian values.”
• Ramiro Medrano: "How can we foster unity in the body of Christ in the midst of division? How does one challenge the “brethren” to consider a different perspective? How can we correct bad theology and doctrine, when both sides use (or should I say abuse) Scripture to justify their position? I’m aware that much of this is based upon poor discipleship and interpretation. However, the polarization is further encouraged from the pulpit."
  • Disagreement
  • Mutual vilification
  • Unwillingness to listen
  • Neither in spirit of public discourse nor of Christ
• The role of pastors in moral and political persuasion
• Cordell Patrick Schulten: Can the Stoic and Christian takes on adiaphora (“Indifferents” or “Non-essentials”) help reduce the amount of political friction?
• Anonymous: "Other than by avoidance, how do we sustain friendships in the midst of political/partisan differences?"
  • Rebelling against the temptation to reduce human beings to their political opinions