The Courtesy of Jesus and the Recent Election

The election is over. A lot of people are happy and a lot are sad. Other people can analyze election results much more competently than I can, but I want to consider our responses as followers of Jesus. It’s easy for us, whichever side we’re on, to feel that the salvation of the country depends on our parties and policies. And then to feel justified in rude behavior based on that (mistaken) priority. Friendships get broken, families get divided, and bitterness and hatred take root.

At least two lies are embedded here. The first lie is that our salvation is in politics. Salvation is not in politics, but in Jesus. We can be Democrats or Republicans, but if we are followers of Jesus, our primary loyalty is to him. In fact, he demands it. We may approve or disapprove of a party, but first we serve Jesus. We may love our country, but first we serve Jesus. (Even the pledge of allegiance to “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” is more of a pledge to what may exist after the restoration of all things. It’s certainly not true now.) We love our family, but we must love Jesus more.

Does this sound extreme? Sure, because it is. And it wasn’t my idea. Listen to what Jesus said, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:37-39, ESV). Followers of Jesus put him first.

The second lie is that people who disagree with us, people who are on the “other side,” are our enemies. We know who our enemy is. It is the Adversary of our souls, and the hosts that serve him. We are at war against spirits of death, fear, abuse, lies, corruption, and destruction. It is one of the Adversary’s traps to make us see humans who disagree with us as our enemies, and then to hate them. We can ask Jesus to let us see other humans the way he does—as precious image-bearers of God whom he is working to redeem. It is, or should be, a far cry from thinking people are wrong to thinking people are our enemies.

And what if they are in fact our enemies? We may have people in our lives trying to destroy us. Jesus spoke to that as well. “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. . . . For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?” (Matthew 5:44-45, ESV). Loving our enemies may work for their salvation. It will certainly work for our own. Hatred is a luxury that will destroy you. Whether you like your revenge as a dish served hot or cold, it will poison you.

How do we obey Jesus in this? Dame Julian of Norwich gives us some guidance as she talks about our relationship with Jesus. (The word “homely” used to mean “comfortable, or being at home.”)

“For our Lord Himself is sovereign homeliness, and as homely as He is, so courteous He is: for He is very courteous. And the blessed creatures that shall be in heaven with Him without end, He will have them like to Himself in all things. And to be like our Lord perfectly, it is our very salvation and our full bliss.”

We need all of Jesus’s characteristics, but in these post-election days, it might be good to focus on his courtesy. Being courteous means to be polite, to have good manners, to show respect, to show friendliness and concern for others. It is a very basic and simple way of showing love. We teach it to small children. But courtesy can help us to show grace in our victories and equanimity in our losses. It is important in our casual relationships and even more important to guard our precious, core relationships. Courtesy can both prevent grave harm in relationships and help to heal the harm. If you won last week, or if you lost, to be like Jesus is our very salvation and our full bliss.