Tribalism and propaganda are tearing us apart

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:43-45)

One of the more concerning realities of our American culture is the increasing polarity between groups of people. This phenomenon is most obvious in politics, where Republicans and Democrats are convinced that the other is either seriously deluded or the spawn of Satan. But many of today’s social justice movements are also doubling down on human differences such as gender, skin color, sexual preference, and religion, labeling one group the oppressors or privileged group and the other the oppressed or targeted groups. The result, as I’ve reiterated throughout my current sermon series, is not increased justice and unity in our world, but increased division, mistrust, and hatred.

In Thaddeus Williams’ book Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth, he emphasizes the horrific impact that such tribalistic thinking has had on our world over the past century. He talks about how propaganda has been used throughout history to paint the most damning picture it can of another group, treat every individual as exemplars of that group, and then to blame all of life’s troubles on that group. For example, Williams writes.
 
An old Nazi pamphlet says that the Jew “only looks human, with a human face, but his spirit is lower than that of an animal. . . . [He represents] unparalleled evil, a monster, subhuman.” The Tutsis in Rwanda were called Inyenzi, or “cockroaches.” KKK literature reduced blacks in the US to “gorillas.” The two million victims of Khmer Rouge were deemed “microbes” who must be “swept aside” and “smashed.” White supremacists of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville spoke of the “parasitic class of anti-White vermin.” Propaganda is the uranium that powers tribalism and the social meltdown it incurs.

Whenever you hear language that paints all men or women, all white people or minorities, all gay people or straight people, all Republicans or Democrats, in this manner, by attributing the worst characteristics to them and then blaming all of life’s troubles on them, do not be seduced by such thinking. This is not of God, and will not lead to a just world. Jesus calls us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. And love, in case you forgot, is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs. “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

It is easier to stereotype, to lump all people who look the same or believe the same into one homogenous group. It is much more challenging to truly listen to the views of a political opponent, to befriend a gay couple, to seek to understand the life experience of someone from a different racial background, to share a meal with someone from a different religion, to see the world from the perspective of a transgender man, and yes, even to consider the concerns of social justice warriors. But loving like Jesus means resisting our culture’s push towards propaganda, refusing to paint with a broad brush and blame the troubles of the world on whole groups of people. Loving like Jesus includes embracing our common humanity as people made in the image of God, resisting our common enemy, Satan, whose mission is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10), and sharing the good news of Jesus’ saving love for sinners in both word and deed.

Posted in
Posted in , ,

No Comments


Recent

Archive

 2023

Categories

Tags

1 Corinthians 10 1 Peter 4:8-9 1 Thessalonians 5 1 Timothy 1:15-17 2 Corinthians 13:5 2 Timothy 4 Abundant Life Adoption Affirmation American cullture America Anger Anonymity Anthropology Anxiety Apologetics Approval Arguments Atheism Baptism Barnabas Battle Be still Bible Study Bible reading Bible study fellowship Bible Billy Graham Bob Pierce Bonhoeffer Books Breath Prayer Brennan Manning Brian Fearon Bronx Busyness C.S. Lewis Cape Coast Castle Central African Republic Character Charles Spurgeon Charleston Cheap grace Christian media Christian privilege Christian publishing Christmas Church growth Church life Church College Commitment Communication Community Compassion Competition Confidence Contentment Coronavirus Counseling Courage Cove Service Cowardice Craig Wolfram Critical Race Theory Criticism Cross Culture D.L. Moody Daniel David Death Deborah Despair Discernment Discipleship Discipline Distractions Divine sovereignty Division E.M Bounds Easter Ebenzer Ecuador Edward Kimball Election Elisabeth Elliot Enabling Encouragement Endurance Envy Ephesians Eternal life Eternity Evaluation Evangelism Faith False Teachers Fame Family Fasting Father Fear Fellowship Footwashing Forgiveness Francis Chan Freedom Friendship Gaia McDermott Gates George Mueller Gift exchange Gino Marozzi Giving Glory God's character God's faithfulness God's goodness God's leading God's love God's plan God's presence God's slowness God's sovereignty God's wrath God\'s faithfulness God\'s love God\'s presence God\'s sovereignty God\\\'s presence God Good Samaritan Gospel Grace Grief Haiti Handel's Messiah Happiness Hartford City Mission Healing Heaven Hebrews 11 Hell Hiddenness of God History Holiness Hollywood Holy Spirit Home Honesty Hope Horatio Spafford Hospitality Houston Human responsibility Human rights Humility Hypocrisy Identity Ideologies Idols Immanuel In memory of Information overload Injustice Insecurity Integrity Intimacy Isaiah 9 Israel JI Packer Jeremiah 29:11 Jeremiah 8:11 Jesus' death Jesus' love Jesus\' love Jesus Job Joe Barone John 6 John 8 John Mark Comer John Newton Jordan Perterson Joseph Joshua Joy Judgement Judges Justice Kanye West Kingdom of God Knowing God Lamentations Lament Las Vegas Leadership Leaf by Niggle Lent Les Miserables Lessons learned Loaves and fishes Longing Lord's Prayer Love Luke 10 Lynne Pleau Mark 10:21 Mark Driscoll Marketing Marriage counseling Matthew 16 Matthew 26 Memorial Day Men's conference Mercy Mike Yaconelli Ministry of presence Ministry Missions Money Moralistic Therapeutic Deism Moses Music Nancy Butler New Year's New life NewLife Old Testament Opinions Optimism Order Orlando Outreach Parenting Passion of the Christ Passion Pastoral care Pastoral ministry Patience Peace Pentecost Peru Phil Vaglica Philip Yancey Philippians 4:13 Play Pokemon Go Politics Poverty Power Prayer Preaching Pride Month Pride Prison ministry Progress Prophecy Prophet Prosperity Gospel Proverbs 14:4 Proverbs Psalm 13 Psalm 27 Psalm 37 Psalm 46:10 Psalm 46 Psalm 51 Public Speaking Purpose R.C Sproul Reflection Relationship with God Relationships Relativism Relevance Religion Reputation Rest Resurrection Rev 2:4 Revival Rich young ruler Righteousness Romantic love Ron Luce Running Sabbath Sacrifice Salvation Same-sex marriage Samuel Sanctification Satan Saul Seculosity Self-Image Self-Worth Service Sex Trafficking Sex Shirley Prey Signifigance Silence Sin Smartphones Social justice Songs of Ascent Spiritual Disciplines Spiritual Formation Spiritual Gifts Spiritual Warfare Spiritual growth Statues Stories Street Church Stress Success Suffering Suicide Sunday School Survivor Syria Technology Teen Mania Thanksgiving The Hartford project The Ragman The Sound of freedom The Underground The Valley of Vision Theology Tim Keller Titanic Titus 2:11-12 Tolkienn Tozer Trauma Trevin Wax Trust Truth Uconn basketball Unanswered Prayer Unity Uvalde Valley of Vision Vows Waiting Williams Syndrome Wisdom Witness Work Worry Worship Zechariah accountability accusation addiction bitterness cancel culture child trafficking confession conflict cool devotion disillusionment divorce emotions evil evolution faithfulness foster care glory days gratitude idolatry influences listening marriage nostalgia pastor perspective problem of Evil prodigal son purity of heart racism recovery redemption relevant repentance story temptation the one Jesus loves time management treasure trials tribalism violence vision