The pundits and many other Americans will likely be conducting postmortems already, and some of our fellow evangelical Christians may be providing similar examinations of our movement. There will be much for evangelicals to discuss, and lots of it will be painful.
Even before election day, here is the first of my observations as an evangelical about evangelicals and this presidential campaign:
Some of us have failed to extend grace to each other.
The division over Republican nominee Donald Trump has not always shown us at our best. Some on both sides have fallen short. The harshness in rhetoric toward others seemed to be more from the #NeverTrump band in the primaries. It appears to have switched to the Trump-supporting evangelicals since the GOP convention.
Passions still run high. Both sides are convinced of their positions. It is difficult in such situations not to lash out, convinced ours is the only possible way for a Christian to think.
But we can, and must, do better. We sin if we don't. Amid our disagreement over what to do in this election, we who were enemies of Christ before He made us His own should not treat one another as enemies. We are brothers and sisters through His blood. We may have a family disagreement, but we should give each other not only the benefit of the doubt but, as pastor/blogger Scotty Smith recently said, the benefit of grace.
It is not the unanimity of our votes but the love we have for one another that enables the world to see in the church what God is like (I John 4:11-12).
We have almost two weeks left. May we express our differences before Nov. 8 with the desire to understand and the devotion to love one another. And may we do so in every election hereafter.
That is a great word Tom. Thanks for the reminders.
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