The Agonizing Choice of Christians

Commentary

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Everything good in my life is connected to church people. Through the years I have admired selfless servants of Christ and been so impressed by the way they model Christian principles and values. As we would want, they have passed on the values of Christian faith by the way they live.

As parents, grandparents, Sunday School teachers (for children, youth and adults), Bible study teachers, prayer group leaders, Scout leaders, in church meetings, these people have been the rocks of integrity. They are the anchors for good. They have taught children that it is wrong to lie; that we ought to repent of our sins when we commit them; they have shut down insults to others. The boundaries of their values blessed us all. Even when they are angry, they are careful not to use cuss words. Vulgarity is out of bounds and whatever differences are between people (often there are many differences), these Rock of Gibraltar people have all stood for basic Christian values and discourse in the church. They have modeled Christian characteristics in their families. They have been the bright lights of integrity in their communities. They have been the solid gold witness for Christ over and over again.

I cannot say enough good things about them and their positive contribution to the world. And I cannot describe how deeply my heart hurts for them. While in most election years, I have not even known who people were voting for unless they made a point to tell me. Voting is a personal and private privilege. In these tragically polarized days, though, salt-of-the-earth, church-going people have taken the initiative to let it be known they support Donald Trump.

I do not hurt for them because of their political choice. I respect the sanctity and freedom for everyone to make their choice. I hurt because support for someone who is openly, repeatedly, blatantly the opposite of Christian values is a contradiction to the witness I have admired in people.

Tarnished witness

In more normal times, people would have recognized such a stark anti-Christian option. For people whose word is trustworthy, the witness of trustworthy people is tarnished when they support a compulsive liar. And somewhere along the line (maybe not immediately in these raw times), there will be a son or daughter or grandchild or Sunday School member who is willing to tell them about the hurt they feel – that someone they trusted has lived and taught one thing and yet supported another.

I know this is happening. Because of the volatility and reactivity of these divided times, they tell me of their loss and disbelief. And every time I hear how disappointed they are, the heartache hurts. When people who are kind to others give support to someone who openly, publicly, repeatedly insults others, that’s a contradiction that people can’t avoid. Can this person I have looked up to be trusted? they ask me. When we go to church and can repeat John 3:16 and the Golden Rule and affirm that God loves all the children of the world but be proud of supporting someone who lies and denigrates people from other countries, the contradiction is too stark to ignore. I do not care about the political choice. I care mightily about the Christian witness of good people.

Right now, good Christian people have a wrenching struggle. Over and over, the falsehoods and insulting words of Mr. Trump make people of Christian conscience cringe. We do not a have a situation where there is a slip-up that gets corrected or toned down. The repeated lying, denigrating others and crude comments only increases.

Unprecedented low point

In an Oct. 19 Pennsylvania rally, former President Trump hit an unprecedented low point. In a crowd of adults, children and youths, he talked about the size of the private parts of a famous golfer. I can’t imagine that any of the good men – or women—I have known who would think that is appropriate privately, much less publicly. He made insults and sexually suggestive comments about Vice President Kamala Harris. I cannot fathom that any of the decent church people I have known would do something like this. (Am I naïve?) Then, in addition to using crude curse words, he not only used coarse words, he led the crowd to repeat and echo his insults with words that would have gotten my mouth washed out with soap.

If anybody in that night’s crowd was a Christian, this crude behavior must have created a civil war. Not a little tinge of conscience – but a full-blown agony of contradictions. If they were at church – any church—the following Sunday and heard any resemblance to the Gospel, their consciences would be stirring.

When facts don’t matter, when the common currency of conversation is insult, when falsehoods are unapologetically repeated, when people are baited to hate others, the good people who are our witnesses to Christian faith know all that is the opposite of Christianity. This is not a matter of political party. The same standard would be true for any political party. For Christians, values matter, in life and at the ballot box. And the two are profoundly connected.

Good people living Christian values have been the inspiration of my life. They have been the rock-solid ground of integrity and goodwill in countless families, churches and communities. Their witness makes an incalculable contribution for good. I thank God for them as people I love and respect. I pray they will protect the Christlike witness of their lives in this very turbulent time. We need their witness of good more than ever.

The Rev. Dr. Mary John Dye is a retired clergy member of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. This post is republished with permission from her Facebook page.