Fruitful Politics: Love

No good tree bears bad fruit... (Luke 6:43-45)

The following plea appeared in my Facebook feed on primary day back in March:

To my brothers and sisters in Christ. Please don't vote in anger and frustration but vote for the candidate who will make God first again in our great nation.

I appreciate the sentiment, although I may not agree with the political assumptions behind the words.

To my mind, to really be fruitful in putting God first in our great nation, it's less about a list of opinions or platforms, and more about whether Spirit-driven Christians are bearing the Spirit's fruit in abundance as they walk with the Spirit through the minefields of politics.

The first among Paul's list of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) is Love.

During Jesus' three year ministry, his priority was always on loving God, loving your neighbor, and loving your enemies. On the few occasions when he was confronted with political questions or politically sensitive topics, he always responded in a way that demonstrated love for God, love for your neighbor, and love for enemies.

In 21st century America, even many Christians have bought into the either/or approach to issues and to people. If you are a supporter of this candidate, you must despise and believe the worst about their opponent. If you agree with this policy, you must believe the worst about people on the opposite side.

Believe it or not, it's possible to love the teachings about morality in God's Word and yet still love immoral people, whether they be homosexuals, liars, greedy, crude, or just plain flawed like the rest of us.

It's possible - and praiseworthy - to love both the sinners and the saved, to have loving compassion on the very real oppression experienced by black people while also loving and honoring law enforcement officials.

It's possible to have strong views about the politics of immigration and yet respond to immigrants - legal or illegal - with an abundance of love.

We would do well to read Paul's treatise on love in I Corinthians 13 on a daily basis during political season. His practical, down-to-earth description of love in action would us to bear fruit when we talk politics.

• The fruitful Christian will respond to the belligerence of politically intense people with patience.

• Rudeness and insult won't be a part of the kind demeanor of the fruitful Christian.

• The fruitful Christian will avoid dishonoring others - even politicians who seem to have little honor - in our conversations and our social media posts.

• The fruitful Christian is not easily angered, not even by people whose political viewpoints seem in extreme opposition to godliness and justice.

• The fruitful Christian won't be constantly looking for every little slip-up an opposing candidate or politician makes, keeping a record of wrongs, amplifying the faults of the "wrong" politician and glossing over the faults of the "right" person.

Politicians and hot topics come and go, but love never fails.