Navigating Politics Through the Lens of Faith

### Summary

Good morning, Menlo Church! We are coming off an incredible weekend where many people publicly declared their faith through baptisms. Whether you were baptized or not, I hope you felt that God wants to do something unique in your life. Here at Menlo Church, we believe that hope is for everyone, regardless of where you are in your faith journey. We aim to bring hope to everyone by living out our identity in Christ every day, not just during the school year but throughout the entire year. This is possible because of the generosity of those who support Menlo Church financially. If you want to automate your giving, you can sign up at menlo.church.com.

Before we dive into today's topic, let's pray. God, in a world that feels so divided and disorienting, we ask for your unity and guidance. Amen.

I want to share a story about an election cycle where both sides saw their opponents as existential threats to democracy. Friends and families were divided, and relationships were strained. After the election, the promises made were inconsistently delivered, and the division lingered, waiting for the next election season. This isn't just a fairy tale; it's a reality we face. In 2016, I waited too long to address these issues, and relationships were already damaged. This time, I want to address it earlier to help us approach this season with a more thoughtful perspective. We are not endorsing any candidates or handing out voter guides. Instead, we should view our politics through the lens of our faith, not the other way around.

Over the last 30 years, the rates of unfavorable views towards the opposing political party have tripled. How did we get here, and what do we do about it? Compartmentalizing our faith and politics is a common but dangerous practice. The Jewish people in the Hebrew scriptures struggled with the same issue. God gave them a central command to guide their lives: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and might." This is the Shema, a core ethic that Jesus also emphasized, encapsulating it in what we call the Golden Rule: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Paul's definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 is often read at weddings, but it's also crucial for our political discourse. Love is patient, kind, and does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way, is not irritable or resentful, and does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. This kind of love is difficult to practice, even with those we love, let alone our political adversaries. But the opposite of love isn't hate; it's fear. Fear drives us to reject patience and kindness and embrace envy and arrogance.

N.T. Wright, in his book "Jesus and the Powers," reminds us that Jesus is King, and His kingdom remains the object of the church's witness and work. If we don't intentionally decide to focus on this, we will divert ourselves into the kingdoms of this world. John Mark Comer, in "Live No Lies," highlights how the early church was multiracial, multiethnic, and spread across socioeconomic lines, caring for the poor and resisting infanticide and abortion. This vision of love is politically shaping, and we must ensure our politics are shaped by our faith, not the other way around.

As we navigate this election season, let's challenge ourselves to take in news that informs rather than infuriates us. Broadcast news has become a profit engine, driving us into extreme views. We must challenge our assumptions and find common ground with others. Paul gives us warning signs to watch for: impatience, unkindness, envy, arrogance, and more. These are produced by fear, not love.

Imagine a community where our political differences draw us into deeper conversations, fostering understanding and respect. Let's commit to being ambassadors of Christ's love, listening more, speaking less, and seeking common ground. Pray for our leaders, our nation, and our world. Let's be a light in the darkness, a beacon of hope. Our ultimate allegiance is to an eternal kingdom with a risen King who commands us to love our enemies and be peacemakers. Let's rise to the challenge and be known for our love, not our political stances.

### Key Takeaways

1. **Hope is for Everyone**: At Menlo Church, we believe that hope is for everyone, regardless of where you are in your faith journey. This hope is not just for the school year but for the entire year, and it is made possible by the generosity of those who support the church financially. If you want to automate your giving, you can sign up at menlo.church.com. [26:28]

2. **The Shema and the Golden Rule**: The central command given to the Jewish people, known as the Shema, is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and might. Jesus emphasized this by adding the Golden Rule: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." This core ethic should guide our lives and our political views, ensuring that our faith shapes our politics, not the other way around. [32:41]

3. **The Definition of Love**: Paul's definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 is crucial for our political discourse. Love is patient, kind, and does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way, is not irritable or resentful, and does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. This kind of love is difficult to practice, even with those we love, let alone our political adversaries. [45:04]

4. **The Opposite of Love is Fear**: The opposite of love isn't hate; it's fear. Fear drives us to reject patience and kindness and embrace envy and arrogance. As we navigate this election season, let's challenge ourselves to take in news that informs rather than infuriates us. Broadcast news has become a profit engine, driving us into extreme views. We must challenge our assumptions and find common ground with others. [46:47]

5. **Ambassadors of Christ's Love**: Imagine a community where our political differences draw us into deeper conversations, fostering understanding and respect. Let's commit to being ambassadors of Christ's love, listening more, speaking less, and seeking common ground. Pray for our leaders, our nation, and our world. Let's be a light in the darkness, a beacon of hope. Our ultimate allegiance is to an eternal kingdom with a risen King who commands us to love our enemies and be peacemakers. [55:30]

### YouTube Chapters

[0:00] - Welcome
[26:28] - Hope is for Everyone
[28:02] - Opening Prayer
[29:39] - Election Cycle Story
[31:15] - Political Division
[32:41] - The Shema and the Golden Rule
[34:01] - Core Ethic of Following Jesus
[35:21] - Political Toxicity
[36:51] - The Opposite of Love is Fear
[38:08] - Politics as the New Religion
[39:41] - Four Different Americas
[42:20] - Overlapping Interests
[45:04] - Definition of Love
[46:47] - Fear and Political Discourse
[48:04] - Jesus is King
[49:34] - Early Church's Vision of Love
[51:00] - Consuming News Wisely
[52:13] - Warning Signs in Politics
[54:00] - Pursuing Love in a Divided Culture
[55:30] - Ambassadors of Christ's Love
[57:02] - Closing Prayer

### Bible Reading
1. **Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (ESV)**: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."
2. **Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV)**: "And he said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"
3. **1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ESV)**: "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

### Observation Questions
1. What is the Shema, and why is it significant in both Jewish and Christian traditions? ([32:41])
2. According to Jesus in Matthew 22:37-39, what are the two greatest commandments, and how are they connected? ([34:01])
3. How does Paul define love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, and why is this definition important for our political discourse? ([45:04])
4. What does the sermon suggest is the opposite of love, and how does this affect our interactions with others, especially in a political context? ([46:47])

### Interpretation Questions
1. How does the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) guide the lives of believers, and why is it important to love God with all your heart, soul, and might? ([32:41])
2. In what ways does Jesus' addition of "love your neighbor as yourself" expand the understanding of the Shema? ([34:01])
3. Why is Paul's definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 challenging to practice, especially with those who hold different political views? ([45:04])
4. How does fear manifest in our political discourse, and what are the warning signs that Paul gives us to watch for in our behavior? ([46:47])

### Application Questions
1. Reflect on your own political views. How can you ensure that your faith shapes your politics rather than the other way around? ([31:15])
2. Think of a recent political discussion you had. How could you have applied Paul's definition of love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) to that conversation? ([45:04])
3. Identify a news source you regularly consume. Is it designed to inform you or infuriate you? How can you adjust your media consumption to align with the principles of love and understanding? ([51:00])
4. Consider someone in your life with whom you have political disagreements. What steps can you take to foster deeper conversations, understanding, and respect with that person? ([55:30])
5. How can you be an ambassador of Christ's love in your community, especially during this election season? What specific actions can you take to listen more, speak less, and seek common ground? ([55:30])
6. Reflect on the idea that the opposite of love is fear. What fears do you need to address in your own life to better love others, especially those with different political views? ([46:47])
7. Pray for a political leader you did not vote for. How does this practice change your perspective and align you more closely with the teachings of Jesus? ([55:30])

Day 1: Hope is for Everyone
At Menlo Church, the belief that hope is for everyone is a foundational principle. This hope transcends the boundaries of where one might be in their faith journey. It is not confined to specific times of the year but is a constant presence, available throughout the entire year. This enduring hope is made possible through the generosity of those who support the church financially. By automating your giving, you can contribute to this mission of spreading hope to all. This act of generosity not only supports the church but also fosters a community where hope is a shared experience, accessible to everyone.

[26:28]

Romans 15:13 (ESV): "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."

Reflection: How can you contribute to spreading hope in your community today, whether through acts of kindness, words of encouragement, or financial support?


Day 2: The Shema and the Golden Rule
The Shema, a central command given to the Jewish people, instructs them to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, and might. Jesus emphasized this command by adding the Golden Rule: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." This core ethic is meant to guide our lives and our political views, ensuring that our faith shapes our politics, not the other way around. By prioritizing love for God and neighbor, we can navigate political divisions with a perspective rooted in faith and compassion.

[32:41]

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (ESV): "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

Reflection: In what ways can you ensure that your faith shapes your political views rather than allowing politics to shape your faith?


Day 3: The Definition of Love
Paul's definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 is crucial for our political discourse. Love is patient, kind, and does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way, is not irritable or resentful, and does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. This kind of love is difficult to practice, even with those we love, let alone our political adversaries. However, embodying this love in our interactions can transform our political conversations and foster a more compassionate and understanding community.

[45:04]

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ESV): "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Reflection: Think of a recent political conversation you had. How could you have applied Paul's definition of love to that interaction?


Day 4: The Opposite of Love is Fear
The opposite of love isn't hate; it's fear. Fear drives us to reject patience and kindness and embrace envy and arrogance. As we navigate this election season, it's important to challenge ourselves to take in news that informs rather than infuriates us. Broadcast news has become a profit engine, driving us into extreme views. By challenging our assumptions and finding common ground with others, we can overcome fear and foster a more loving and understanding community.

[46:47]

1 John 4:18 (ESV): "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love."

Reflection: What steps can you take to ensure that the news you consume informs you rather than infuriates you? How can you challenge your assumptions and find common ground with others?


Day 5: Ambassadors of Christ's Love
Imagine a community where political differences draw us into deeper conversations, fostering understanding and respect. By committing to being ambassadors of Christ's love, we can listen more, speak less, and seek common ground. Praying for our leaders, our nation, and our world, we can be a light in the darkness, a beacon of hope. Our ultimate allegiance is to an eternal kingdom with a risen King who commands us to love our enemies and be peacemakers. Let's rise to the challenge and be known for our love, not our political stances.

[55:30]

2 Corinthians 5:20 (ESV): "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

Reflection: How can you act as an ambassador of Christ's love in your political conversations this week? What practical steps can you take to listen more and speak less?

Our greatest... well, good morning, Menlo Church!

We're so glad that you're here, coming off such an incredible weekend last weekend where so many people went public with their faith through baptisms. I hope, whether you got baptized or not, maybe you felt this sense that God wants to do something unique and new in your life as you watched Him do something like that in someone else's life.

In case you don't know this, here at Menlo Church, we really do believe that hope is for everyone. Whether you would call yourself a follower of Jesus or not, whether you think God is mad at you, He's actually crazy about you. Hope is for everyone. And because of that, we're really about bringing hope to everyone by living out our identity in Christ every single day. That's not just during the school year; that's the whole year. And summer presents some great chances for us to do that together.

Now, the only reason that that's possible, the only reason we can do that when some of our attendance patterns change and travel and all that stuff, is because we have people who have developed a personal plan to support what God is doing at Menlo Church financially. Lots of people intend to give, but this group of people have given attention to their intention, and they have done more than just think about it.

If you want to learn more about this, or you maybe want to automate your giving yourself, you can learn more and sign up at menlo.church.com. We automate what's important to us. We all do it with the things that are most important financially. And I would argue, if you're a follower of Jesus and you call Menlo Church home, this should be one of those things.

And if you're like, "Phil, I was here last week, and you said most of that last week." And I would just say, repetition is the mother of God. So, you're welcome. I would also say, some of you think that there's like a thing you wish we really were passionate about, or that we did, or more people knew about. And if Phil would just talk about it, then everybody would do it. Well, I talked about it last week, and literally one person did it. So, if you're also wondering why I'm doing it again, because I'm just assuming you needed to hear it again.

So, I would love for you to pray about and process that as we learn to be generous together. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Before we begin together, I'm going to pray for us. And if you've never been here before, never heard me speak, before I speak, I pray kneeling. And part of the reason that I do that is because topics like the ones we're going to talk about on the board behind me, that for some of you are stressing you out already, as we think about that stuff, it just reminds me that it's actually God's word way more than my words that we should be submitting to and surrendering to in our lives.

So, would you pray with me?

God, in a moment that can feel so confused, that can feel so disorienting, you are still moving. You are still working. You still love people. And so, at a time where we can feel so divided, so divisive, would you bring us unity by your Spirit together right now? It's in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right. I want to tell you a story.

Once upon a time, there was an election cycle. Both sides were convinced that their opponent represented an existential threat to democracy. And anyone who saw it differently was not just wrong; they were evil and stupid. Friends and families were divided during the election season because they said things that made relationships more difficult to continue, and they did things that made those who disagreed with them feel hated.

After the election season, the promises of the candidate who won were unevenly and inconsistently delivered. Friends and families that were divided during the election season navigated over time until, ultimately, after the election season, the mudslinging stopped, and they tried to return to a moment of normalcy. But the division just waited for the next election season, and they lived far from happily ever after.

Not much of a fairy tale, is it? Feels a little too true, doesn't it?

In 2016, as a pastor, I waited to do a series like this until the fall of the election season. I was a pastor. I was a pastor. I was a pastor. I was a pastor of that year, presidential election year, and that was way too late. People had already ruined relationships and said things they wished they hadn't. And so I've changed my approach around presidential election seasons to address healthy disagreements much earlier in the process in hopes of helping all of us approach this season with a more thoughtful perspective.

And if you're wondering if I'm planning on endorsing a candidate or handing out voter guides, you can look at my... We are not that kind of church. I do not believe that either political party has the moral high ground in America. Hot take. And while you should have political views, and I do too, there is an important order to our political views. We should always view our politics through the lens of our faith and not the other way around.

So that's what we're going to try and do together over the next few weeks. Democrats, Republicans, and whatever else you would classify yourself as at the foot of the cross together as we think about the problems of our world.

I'm sure it's no surprise that we have been sliding further and further from any kind of kindness or respect for the opposing political party for quite some time. In the last 30 years, the rates of very unfavorable to the other side of our political viewpoint have basically tripled. So how do we get here? And what do we do about it?

For some of you, it's really kind of a question that feels pretty irrelevant. You're a Christian, but what does that have to do with your politics? And if no political party is perfect, and certainly the leaders of those parties are not perfect, then why can't I just make the most of an ugly system and get the thing done that advances my priorities the most?

This type of compartmentalization is very common and actually very ancient. As a matter of fact, the Jewish people in the Hebrew Scriptures struggled with the same problem. They struggled with the same problem. They struggled with the same human temptation.

This compartmentalization, though, it never stays in that compartment very long. For the ancient Jews, this temptation was about merging their values, their pursuit of their God, Yahweh, and the values and gods of the culture that they found themselves in at any given moment influenced by as a people. God knew that it would be their temptation, and therefore, He gave them a central command to guide their lives and their purpose.

He said it this way: "Hear, O Israel. The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might." These are the words of the Shema. This is the central driving ethic of the Jewish people. Shema simply means hear or listen, and it was a reminder. It was a reminder that they wore on their body. It was a reminder that they put up around their house. It was the Jewish equivalent of live, laugh, love, but they really did it.

The reminder that God gave to the Israelites is actually still core to the way of Jesus today. Jesus simply ensures that we are also applying that love to other people as well, which was included throughout the Jewish law, but Jesus encapsulates it in what is often referred to as the golden rule, although I would challenge us to think of it as the platinum rule. It's actually even better.

Jesus responds to an attempted trap by religious leaders during His earthly ministry this way. They said, "Teacher, which is the great commandment?"

He said, "This is the great and first commandment, and a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." That's the way they would have talked about the Hebrew Scriptures.

Jesus is saying that all of the law and the prophets point to this ultimate purpose: the core ethic of following Jesus is love. And what we do with every part of our lives, all the categories and compartments that would maybe normally divide us, come under the influence and control of someone and something greater, a kingdom with no end, a king who will rule forever.

Maybe you're still unconvinced that this is a necessary conversation for you. You feel like you're a thoughtful friend, you're a great co-worker, you're a thoughtful roommate, you're a helpful classmate, you're the best spouse. But you can also just like swim in the waters of political division. It's not really interfering with everything else in your life.

But I have some really bad news for you. It spreads. Last week in our offices, something had been sitting in the fridge for way too long in our kitchen. It had been in a container, but at a certain point, the container could no longer contain the contamination and the smell of its contents. You ever been there? I think we've all been there.

And if you go too long, what happens to the rest of the fridge? Food in the fridge. You don't want to eat any of it. You're like, "It's in another container. It's fine." Like throw out the fridge. Some of you, you've let your level of political toxicity and tribalization become this ugly. And the festering part of who you are is now spreading to everywhere else.

No one can talk with you about anything without the election, that topic, or their agenda being brought up. I didn't have time last week to dig out the problem in the fridge. And let's be honest, I didn't. I didn't want to. So I didn't just avoid using that fridge. You know what I did? I avoided going into that room. I was like, "No, I don't want to be associated with that."

I wonder if you have people in your life who are hoping that right now you are listening because you have become that fridge. Maybe for you, you don't realize this, but like there are other families that are struggling to relate to your family because someone in your family has become contaminated by tribalization and political extreme toxicity.

But it doesn't have to be that way. We can live and lead differently through this series. This series is like our Shema. Hear, O Menlo, the Lord your God is one, and you should love Him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. And you should love your neighbor, even that one, as yourself.

If the call of God on our life is love, then why are so many of us so angry with each other? Our key principle today can help us maybe imagine this internal temptation or tendency that I think we fight with in our lives. And it's that the opposite of love isn't hate; it's fear.

And over the course of the next few months, as we get ready for this election, I would just really encourage you, listen to the language of politics. It's built on our fears, not our hopes.

So how do we get here? Simply put, we all will have a religion in America. You can say that it's not Christianity. You can say that it's not in God, but you build a system of something you believe in that you hope will result in a positive outcome. And I would argue that politics has emerged as the new religion of our generation.

There were forces that led to this, but perhaps the greatest driving indicator of this change is the gap in our culture of affiliation with faith and church. We have watched church participation drop below 50% for the first time in our nation's history.

And while I'm not sure if that's true, I'm not going to glorify higher church attendance as a universal fix. Remember, there are lots of people who went to church for a long time, a lot, who were justifying very un-Christ-like approaches to marginalized people. I'm not saying church attendance is the silver bullet, but I do think it's worth highlighting the gap that this has created.

Faith answered the question of where do we come from and why are we here? And a culture without that core faith in God is still answering those same questions. One political party is responding to them with its version of nostalgia, and one political party is responding to them with its version of progress.

But part of what makes this so difficult to live in is that while we have two major political parties, we actually live in four different Americas, at least four different Americas. George Packer wrote a piece in The Atlantic in 2021 called "How America Fractured into Four Parts."

If we look at this kind of classic divide, this thing that you were uncomfortable by the moment that it wheeled out here, we think about the right and the left, and you think, "I know who's over there, and I know who's over there," and we're going to see some of my incredible artwork here for a second.

And as we have this third line, there's another divide here. It's the divide between modernism of facts and figures, science and objective reality, and postmodernism. How I self-assign, how I determine my own reality.

And within these four quadrants, George identifies the four different Americas. The top right of both right and modern is what he calls free America. And some of you, you hear that and you're like, "Yeah, that's the America I want. I want a free America."

Well, in this America, it's the idea that you pick yourselves up by your own bootstraps, rugged individualism. You figure it out. Remove as many of the boundaries as possible to be able to do that.

In the bottom right, he has what he calls security America. And this one is about the idea that good fences and good locks and good walls make good neighbors. Maybe that's at an individual level. Maybe that's at a national level. You could say this is not just the security quadrant; this is like the NRA quadrant. We have ideas about how this reflects. And some of you go, "This is the one that I most relate to."

Over here in the bottom left, he calls it just America. Not like just America as exclusionary, but just America as in let's pursue justice. Let's take this internal sense of who I am and elevate it. That's what the world really needs. The mantra of this particular idea is that you live your truth. And that identity becomes the most important thing about you.

We talked about that through some of Carl Truman's work over the last series. In the top left, actually, he gives this region its own name. We're the only ones that get one. Isn't that fun? He argues that Silicon Valley, us, has created really this top left quadrant, which is smart America.

Which, even as I write it, is like, "That sounds good. It's better than stupid America, I guess." But in smart America, it basically takes this impulse that some people have where they look around and they see the problems of the world and they go to security. They go to freedom and self-determination. They go to security. They go to freedom and self-determination.

Or they go to just and go, "How do I live my truth in the middle of that?" Smart America says there's nothing that we can't do to change the world. The biggest problems can be solved through human ingenuity, combination with others, collaboration, and maybe a little bit of artificial intelligence, right?

Now, I'm not writing all these up here so that I can go back and circle the good one, put an X through the bad ones. There are redeeming qualities in all of them. And there are blind spots in each of them.

Part of learning to live in a divided culture, especially if you call yourself a follower of Jesus, is to find what my friend, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, calls overlapping interests. This next week, we'll release a podcast where Dr. Condoleezza Rice was kind enough to sit with us and do kind of an interview conversation around this exact subject where she talks about it.

See, many of these corners, they see similar problems in the world, but they solve those problems so differently. And when we run to the solutions that are different, we can miss the common ground of our humanity and the problems that we're trying to solve together.

We actually need one another, but we would never know that based on the way that we have conversations today. The same framework from Mark Yarhouse that we talked about and leveraged last month is still true here today.

There are some people who are culture warriors in this conversation. In all of these things, in all these corners, they're just trying to go, "What does it look like to win? How do I compete and win? I don't care where I have to compromise to do it. I'm going to win."

There's another group he calls cultural capitulators. They compromise their actual core convictions. They're not trying to win; they're trying to get along. This group is just going, "How do I mold over time and sacrifice my own convictions on the altar of cultural approval?"

And again, this can happen in all four of these. And then there's cultural ambassador, working for the good of the world around them, but living with a different worldview in mind, living with a different kingdom in front of you.

So how do we do that? How do we live out this modern Shema, no matter which of the four Americas you live in, vote in, talk like, believe like? And just so you hear me say it again, none of these are the right run. There is a tension between God's will and the political will of all of these.

Love is a funny word, though, isn't it? See, love is a funny word because of what we've done to it. The modern definition of love is... Isn't that the way we say it? We say love is love. And I'm not trying to trigger anyone, but I'm just telling you that doesn't make any sense. It's a non sequitur. It doesn't bring logical or linguistic consistency to the term.

We have to have a real definition for love. And thankfully, the Scriptures provide one for us. Even if you aren't a Christian, you've probably heard the passage that we'll look at in just a second, probably at a wedding. It was written by the Apostle Paul to a church in the first century in the city of Corinth. They thought they knew what love was. They actually worshiped at a temple that was specifically around a false God, around love.

But then when Paul describes what love really is, here's what they discovered and what we discover: we all fall short. He shares it this way. He says, "Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing."

Maybe you're like, "Well, I wouldn't do that." It does not rejoice when your political party gets away with something, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

You finish this one for me. These verses are actually only a small part of this broader chapter that is sometimes referred to as the love chapter. Paul juxtaposes the idea of accomplishment, of what we can do without love, to the real progress that only happens when it is done in love. Love with this actual definition.

Now, when we get married and we use these verses, there's this really high hope that you're going to be able to crush it at them. You're going to go like, "I'm amazing at it. I'm married 18 years. I think Alyssa would say, A plus. I'm crushing it. Doing so good."

Why are you laughing? That doesn't... We all fall short, right? Patience and kindness. Even when he or she annoys you again. Even when I leave my socks out again. Even when you don't do the thing that you said you'd do again.

So, if it's difficult to do this with someone that we love, that we've committed to loving for the rest of our lives, how can we possibly do this with our political adversaries, right? Well, part of that is what the rest of this series is for.

And I would encourage you, if you have people in your life, Christians or not, that you would just go, "Man, they need to hear this." Don't just think that. Do something about that. Invite them to join you.

Because I want to make sure that we understand why we respond the way that we do in this moment. We don't reject patience and kindness or embrace envy and arrogance because we hate those with opposing views. No, no, no, no. The opposite of love isn't hate; it's fear.

And I'm not saying that you're afraid of Republicans or Democrats. Maybe some of them. But no, no. I'm like, maybe for you, it's about what you're afraid they'll do. It's because you've maybe forgotten how powerful God is and what He's already done and what He's promised to do, how certain the future He's promised really is.

Every one of these quadrants can be taken to an extreme, every single one of them. And every one of those extremes offers a vision of a specific kingdom without a king that you and I can sign up for any day. That's where followers of Jesus can be so clearly different, to see this distinction of the patterns of this world and the patterns of the next world.

In his book, Jesus and the Powers, scholar N.T. Wright puts it this way. He says, "In an age of ascending autocracies, in a time of fear and fragmentation, amid carnage and crisis, Jesus is king. And Jesus' kingdom remains the object of the church's witness and work."

And I'm telling you, Menlo Church, if we don't intentionally decide to do this over the next few months, we will divert ourselves into kingdoms of this world. We will get distracted, and it will take us off track.

This doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. It doesn't mean that we don't vote. It doesn't mean that we don't get involved. It just means that as much as we may lean one way or another in this paradigm, we only kneel for one kingdom and for one king.

And if you have never felt tension with your political party or a specific politician or platform, that's a warning sign about your allegiance. Finding a way to live out this impossible without Jesus kind of love that we read about requires us to embrace the fact that no kingdom of this world is perfect or permanent.

Jesus cared about things and people that when we take them in isolation can feel very comfortable for one particular party, but not all together. Jesus cared about single people, including single moms and the unborn, the foreigner and the marginalized, the rich and the poor, justice and mercy.

If your politics force you to overemphasize some of Jesus' ministry and priorities, ignoring other aspects of it, your politics are shaping your faith rather than the other way around. And this isn't new.

In his book, Live No Lies, John Mark Comer highlights this countercultural nature of how the early church of Jesus' followers lived this out in this vision of love. He said it this way: "The church was multiracial and multiethnic with a high value for diversity, equity, and inclusion. The church was spread across socioeconomic lines as well, and there was a focus on caring for the poor. Those with extra were expected to share with those who had less. It was staunch in its active resistance to infanticide and abortion. It was resolute in its vision of marriage and sexuality between one man and one woman for life. It was nonviolent, both at a personal level and a political level."

Now, for some of us, that quote feels like whiplash. There are parts of it that you wanted to shout amen, and parts of it that you just wanted to shout. Parts of it you wanted to make sure that those terms meant what you thought those terms should mean.

Ultimately, this is the vision of love from Jesus, and it's political. It's politically shaping. And we can recognize that we can all see it differently, and we can all vote differently as a result of it, but let's make sure we're all coming from the same source material.

Next week, I'm going to give you a very practical tool that you can take with you and leverage for the next several months to be an active listener. But this week, I'm going to give you a very practical tool that you can take with you and leverage for the...

I want to challenge you in the way that you take in news during this election season. Here's the question:

Is the news that I'm taking in designed to inform me or infuriate me? Because if we consume news on a regular basis that's built just to infuriate me, you are being manipulated.

When broadcast news was first created, it was designed to be something that channels did as a service to Americans. It was supposed to be a loss leader. They did it as kind of exchange for the airwaves. But over time, it became just one more profit engine, just like everything else in media and entertainment.

And therefore, it has learned to drive us further and further into extreme views, especially during political seasons, because that's how we'll keep paying attention. And with our attention, they find money.

So one easy way, if you're kind of thinking about, "Okay, what do I do with this?" is to maybe watch a news broadcaster take something in that's one notch away from where you are right now, towards a viewpoint that's not yours. Charts like this can help. They're not perfect by any stretch, but without them, we can very easily continue to move more and more into extreme views in what we take into our lives, of what we scroll through, of what we click on, of what we watch, of what we read.

And we have to challenge our assumptions if we're really going to be able to find common ground with other people. So if the opposite of love isn't hate, it's fear, what are the warning signs that we need to be aware of this election season, so that we can love people who will vote differently than us?

We can find common ground with people who may disagree in critical areas. Well, the good news is that Paul gives us those warning signs, even in his definition of love. And so for you, maybe these are the warning signs you need to be aware of.

So you think about your own politics in this season. Are they impatient, unkind, envying others? Boastful, arrogant, rude? You're like, "Phil, that's just the way politics happens." Not for you, it isn't.

Insisting on your own way, irritable, resentful, rejoicing at evil, giving up on people, losing hope, and throwing in the towel. Those are produced not by love, but by fear.

And if we want to be people of this kingdom, we will live out this kind of love that Paul shares with us, that counteracts these warning signs of fear. Over the course of the next few weeks, I hope that we will remember our bigger hope. More than voting the same, which we won't, we are all trying to pursue this picture of love in a culture that is full of terrified people.

People who think that an imperfect leader can lead a kingdom without a king to some sort of perfect utopian outcome. Worship a risen Savior who perfectly embodies this kind of love. And as we follow Him more and more, this is what we will discover together: that there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. God's doing this in all of us. It's a season that we invite Him to do it more.

Menlo Church, imagine a community where our political differences, they don't drive us apart, but instead draw us into deeper conversations, fostering understanding and respect. A place where our faith shapes our politics, not the other way around.

This is the vision of love that Jesus sets before us. A love that is patient, kind, and unwavering, even in the face, maybe especially in the face, of disagreement and division.

In the coming weeks, as we navigate this series together and the tumultuous waters of political discourse, let's commit to being ambassadors of Christ's love. Let's listen more. Let's speak less. Let's seek common ground. Even with people it feels like we have nothing in common with.

Remember, it's not about winning arguments, but about winning hearts for the kingdom of God. I encourage you to take a moment each day to pray for our leaders, even the ones you didn't vote for. Pray for our nation. Pray for our world.

If you're like, "Where'd you get that idea?" The Bible. Pray for each other. Pray for each other. Pray for each other. Pray for each other. Pray for yourself that you would show up with this kind of love.

Let's be a light in the darkness. I'm telling you, the good news is, a world that gets darker and darker, the light stands out more and more. We can be a beacon of hope in a world that so desperately needs it.

If you're a follower of Jesus, remember, our ultimate allegiance is to an eternal kingdom with a risen king who commands us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, to be peacemakers in a world that often glorifies division.

So, Menlo Church, let's rise to the challenge. Let's be known, not for what we're against, for our political stances, but for our love. Love that casts out fear. Love that builds bridges. Love that reflects the heart of Jesus.

Together, let's create a community where hope is more than a word. It's a reality we live and share every day.

Can I pray for you?

God, these words are easier to say than to live. Much easier to hear than to do something with. And so, in our lives right now, would you redirect where maybe our focus is that it needs to be? Where maybe we've slipped into compromise. God, we've slipped into conflict that we know is not helpful.

We've become unloving. We've become bitter. We've become angry. We're watching it happen with our kids. We're watching it happen with our parents. We're watching it happen with our co-workers.

God, would you give us a vision of what it could look like to lead with love into all those spaces in our lives? And as we pursue this series, God, help it to be one that points people, even us, to you. It's in Jesus' name. Amen.

### Quotes for Outreach

1. "In case you don't know this, here at Menlo Church, we really do believe that hope is for everyone. Whether you would call yourself a follower of Jesus or not, whether you think God is mad at you, he's actually crazy about you, hope is for everyone. And because of that, we're really about bringing hope to everyone by living out our identity in Christ every single day." [26:28](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

2. "Imagine a community where our political differences, they don't drive us apart, but instead draw us into deeper conversations, fostering understanding and respect. A place where our faith shapes our politics, not the other way around. This is the vision of love that Jesus sets before us. A love that is patient, kind, and unwavering, even in the face, maybe especially in the face, of disagreement and division." [55:30](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

3. "Let's be a light in the darkness. I'm telling you, the good news is, a world that gets darker and darker, the light stands out more and more. We can be a beacon of hope in a world that so desperately needs it. If you're a follower of Jesus, remember, our ultimate allegiance is to an eternal kingdom with a risen king who commands us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, to be peacemakers in a world that often glorifies God." [55:30](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

4. "If the opposite of love isn't hate, it's fear, what are the warning signs that we need to be aware of this election season, so that we can love people who will vote differently than us? We can find common ground with people who may disagree in critical areas. Well, the good news is that Paul gives us those warning signs, even in his definition of love." [52:13](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

### Quotes for Members

1. "We should always view our politics through the lens of our faith and not the other way around. So that's what we're going to try and do together over the next few weeks. Democrats, Republicans, and whatever else you would classify yourself as at the foot of the cross together as we think about the problems of our world." [31:15](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

2. "The reminder that God gave to the Israelites is actually still core to the way of Jesus today. Jesus simply ensures that we are also applying that love to other people as well, which was included throughout the Jewish law, but Jesus encapsulates it in what is often referred to as the golden rule, although I would challenge us to think of it as the platinum rule. It's actually even better." [32:41](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

3. "Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing. Love, cares all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures." [45:04](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

4. "If your politics force you to overemphasize some of Jesus' ministry and priorities, ignoring other aspects of it, your politics are shaping your faith rather than the other way around. And this isn't new. In his book, Live No Lies, John Mark Comer highlights this countercultural nature of how the early church of Jesus' followers lived this out in this vision of love." [49:34](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)

5. "Over the course of the next few weeks, I hope that we will remember our bigger hope. More than voting the same, which we won't, we are all trying to pursue this picture of love in a culture that is full of terrified people. People who think that an imperfect leader can lead a kingdom without a king to some sort of perfect utopian outcome." [54:00](Download raw clip | Download cropped clip | Download vertical captioned clip)