Navigating Disagreements in an Election Year

This video is taken from the Therapy & Theology episode “How To Handle Politics and Family.” Watch the full conversation here

Through podcast reviews, direct messages on social media, and more, Lysa TerKeurst; Licensed Professional Counselor Jim Cress; and Proverbs 31 Ministries’ Director of Theological Research, Dr. Joel Muddamalle, collected your most asked questions. Now they’re rolling out a whole new season on Therapy & Theology: “You Asked … We’re Answering.”

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Order your copy of Dr. Joel Muddamalle’s new book, The Hidden Peace: Finding True Security, Strength, and Confidence Through Humility, today! Through the pages of this book, Joel will help you walk through hurtful situations in the most God-honoring way by gaining a true understanding of biblical humility.

as a Christian how do I respond when my family or friend group is split politically my short answer announced right here Lisa turkers for president well I mean hey is there anything else okay that one came out of the blue shocked all of us on that one well speaking of shock let’s go that I mean that was me might attempt to be funny are we really shocked anymore about the culture and the environment so how no matter what the question is it’s a mess out there right now America is in what I call that trauma limic braid and

limic responses of fight flatter or freeze seemingly mainly fight so to really really acknowledge where in essence the culture is including maybe just our friends or family can be like it’s this is not where it used to be even 20 30 years ago it’s a very volatile playing field right now that’s for me to acknowledge this it’s really I think unprecedented times yeah I I think we need a guide mhm so we need a guide to help us it’s a topic I’ve been studying for the last 2 and a half years

and yall are going to be like Joel for real is this what you’re going to say and I’m going to say it and I’m going to try to defend it just a little bit uh we need humility we desperately need humility in this conversation humility is a protection a prevention and a preservation humility protects us from thinking too low of ourselves it prevents us from thinking too high of ourselves and it preserves Us in the Life of Christ so when we apply humility to the conversation of politics and disagreement what humility I think is

going to allow us to do is to have um this deep sense of confidence in our conviction compassion in the way that we communicate and above all it always reminds us that you and I are committed to the kingdom of God at all costs um and so if we can frame our relationships and our conversations through that lens of humility uh I think it’s going to lead to healthy relationships and will help us know when we ought to speak and when we ought to might be hesitant I think that’s really good for me I have to first ask myself the question do I

have the emotional capacity to have this kind of conversation right now and if I don’t have the emotional capacity I need to be honest that I don’t really want to say things that I could potentially regret later or I need to do a little more research on this that’s good and so if you don’t have the emotional capacity or you don’t feel like you’re informed enough it’s okay to hit the pause button and say let’s revisit this another time but if do have the emotional capacity to

talk about it I think taking a big step back instead of making assumptions why this person believes the way that they do and you’ve taught me this gy get curious not Furious and start asking questions like help me understand that perspective a little better or help me understand the story in your life that kind of got you to that place not accusing not not making assumptions but really truly getting the desire to connect with that person heart tohe heart even if you never agree on the issues because here’s what I know we’re

all very divided sometimes in the way we think about things our political views even our interpretation of scripture but we can be very United in our tears we can be very United in the hurts that have gotten us to the place where we believe Like We Believe The Compassion that we have for certain things the righteous anger we have about other things the need for justice you know those are places where if we can take a step back and and not so much fight to try to talk someone else into our political view but rather take a step

back and just say help me understand what got you to this place that’s not you watering down what you believe but that’s truly providing a pathway for actual healthy conversation