We live in a polarized society. Our political structure, and increasingly our economic system, encourages division along ideological lines. While our country’s divisions predate the past year’s events, it seems as though the pandemic and political climate only accelerated the polarization. We all know this fracturing of our society only produces negative effects, but we seem powerless to stop it. So, why should Christians avoid the polarization trap? And how do we do it?
Polarization Hurts Your Friendships
I must confess to feeling the draw of polarization over the past year. As I watched the pandemic unfold and the election cycle heat up (and remain heated into the new year), I felt a strong impulse to pick a side and stand my ground. At the same time, I could not shake an equally strong sense that my staunch opinions would inevitably alienate me from people with opposing beliefs.
The urge to pick a side and the suspicion that polarizing myself would negatively impact my relationships crashed into one another during a conversation with a close friend. I found myself frustrated with him because he thought differently on nearly every topic we discussed. I questioned his sanity. Unknown to him, our friendship suffered because I fell into the trap of polarization.
Not long after this conversation, I found myself reading a section of C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity. As often happens when I read Lewis, one of his quotes made my jaw drop. He wrote,
“But a Christian must not be either a Totalitarian or an Individualist. I feel a strong desire to tell you--and I expect you feel a strong desire to tell me--which of these two errors is the worse. That is the devil getting at us. He always sends errors into the world in pairs--pairs of opposites. And he always encourages us to spend a lot of time thinking which is the worse. You see why, of course? He relies on your extra dislike of the error to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight through between both errors. We have no other concern than that with either of them.” (Lewis, 186)
Lewis wrote these words during WWII or not long after its conclusion. The man knew full well the dangers of totalitarianism in the form of Nazi Germany. Certainly, he considered it an unspeakable evil. Still, Lewis urged his readers to resist the urge to fall into the polarization trap.
Polarization is Designed to Trap You
According to Lewis, we should avoid polarization because it plays right into a cosmic game designed to separate us from God and others. If Lewis could call people to the straight and narrow path in the shadow of WWII, surely we should heed his advice during any contemporary crises we face.
After all, the Kingdom of God doesn’t map neatly onto American political ideologies. Even the best policies from either side represent little more than distorted versions of God’s will for humanity. The Kingdom of God transcends our political structures and calls us to full life in Christ. The only way to that full life follows a straight and narrow path.
Overcome Polarization with the Right Goal
But how do we avoid polarization? Again, Lewis gives us sound advice. Lock our eyes on the goal: Jesus. The Way, the Truth, and the Life by which we come to know God bids us take up our cross for the sake of others.
So, for the sake of your friends who think differently, don’t play the polarization game. As Lewis suggests, pursuing God’s truth with people who think differently than you requires traversing a straight and narrow path (Matt 7:14): you can find errors to both the right and the left.