Our Politics Problem is not a Politics Problem

This will be the only thing I say about the United States political climate.

The last few years have been tough on the “Brandon’s” of the world.

No, it’s not because no one knows how to spell our name.

Is it BrandEn or BrandOn? Or did you say, “Brennon?”

It’s because of the infamous “Let’s Go Brandon!” chant often used as a slight against President Joe Biden.

I mostly heard the chant from younger people, and they would finish with a slight chuckle after saying it a few times. But at its peak, I couldn’t do anything without someone “encouraging” me with a “Let’s Go Brandon!” chant. Everywhere I went, including in churches, I would be met with random “encouragement.”

Each time, I became more and more burdened by the state of our politics in America.

The problem with our politics is not our politics. People have disagreed for generations and politics have rarely been as vile as they are today. The problem with our politics is that we have given ourselves over to the dehumanization of people.

Harsh Nicknames = A Dehumanization Technique

For our three major political players, we’ve had:

Sleepy Joe
Donald Dump
Mamala Kamala
Scamala
Dementia Joe
Cheeto for Donald Trump

And this is just the shortlist.

All of these nicknames are a dehumanization technique. All are designed to make us view the person as nothing more than an object or something we can easily write off and ignore.

When we dehumanize a person, it gives us the freedom to:

• Bully them

• Speak harshly about them without feeling bad

• Not care if they live or die (hence the rise in political violence)

• Treat them however we want with no consequences

This, more than anything, characterizes our political climate right now—the dehumanization of people—our politicians and normal civilians.

Not only have we dehumanized our politicians, but we’ve dehumanized people groups for the sake of our political agendas.

• Mass shooting victims have been leveraged by both sides

• Immigrates (real people) have been used by both sides

• Vulnerable women have been exploited by both sides

People aren’t people anymore. People are something to be used to advance our agenda.

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But do you know what the real problem is?

By and large, the church has cooperated and advanced the dehumanization agenda employed by our politicians.

I regularly see Christians using dehumanizing language toward politicians they disagree with.

Joe Biden is no longer a human to many Christians. He’s not a real person with real problems. He’s certainly not a president. To many, he’s Sleepy Joe. He’s nothing more than an old man who should be laughed at when he mumbles over his words.

Kamala Harris is no longer a human to many Christians. She’s not a real person with real thoughts and feelings. She’s certainly not someone who should be respected. To many, she’s Scamala. She’s nothing more than a scam and someone who should be disregarded whenever she speaks.

Donald Trump is no longer a human to many Christians. He’s not a real person with a real life experience. He’s certainly not someone who should be prayed for as our next president. To many, he’s Donald Dump. He’s just a blabbering idiot whose very essence gives off bigotry and hatred—and someone we should all hate, too.

While it may be our politicians who have created these nicknames for one another, the church must take responsibility. Many of these nicknames and comments have caught fire in the church.

And we must repent. This is a sin.

We have given ourselves over to the dehumanization of people. And you know what non-humans can’t do? They can’t come to faith in Jesus.

For many of us, it seems unfathomable that Donald Dump, Sleepy Joe, or Scamala could ever come to faith in Christ and enjoy fellowship with the Trinity through repentance and belief.

• But could Donald John Trump was born in Queens, New York, on June 14, 1946?

• Could Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was born on November 20, 1942, at St. Mary's Hospital in Scranton, Pennsylvania?

• Could Kamala Devi Harris who was born in Oakland, California on October 20, 1964?

When we cooperate in dehumanizing people, we’re cooperating with satan. We’re not thinking about them the way God would think about them.

Why else would you say or type a sarcastic and mocking statement with a dehumanizing nickname?

There’s really one reason: to destroy them.

To destroy their rhetoric
To belittle their personhood
To embarrass them
To mock them

All of that sounds like something satan would do—the one who comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Satan doesn’t show respect for human dignity.

For a while I’ve been concerned that many Christian’s aren’t aware of how active Satan is to destroy us. However, I recently realized that we often don’t see Satan actively destroying people because he’s convinced us to do his work for him. We happily do it. Give us a catchy nickname and someone to laugh at, and we’ll hop on board because, by that point, we already view them as a joke—something less than human.

God isn’t pleased with this. He says so in His Word:

For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
—James 3:7-10

If we ever find ourselves among the people who bless God in one sentence and curse people in another, we must change. And, unfortunately, for many of us, that’s precisely where we find ourselves these days.

What does repentance look like?

The Bible tells us to repent and make restitution.

“Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the Lord, and that person realizes his guilt, he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong. But if the man has no next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the Lord for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him.
—Numbers 5:6-8

Paul also gives us an excellent picture of this in Ephesians while talking about a thief:

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
—Ephesians 4:28

Stop stealing (stop the sin)
Start laboring (live faithfully)
Become generous (make restitution)

Interestingly enough, Paul’s encouragement to the thief here comes right before an example that deals with our speech:

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
—Ephesians 4:29

Again…

Stop speaking corruption (stop sinning)
Only say what’s good (live faithfully)
Speak to build up and give grace (make restitution)

This is what repentance and restitution look like. Speaking about all people—including people we disagree with politically—in such a way that is only good, builds up, and gives grace to them.

Yes, we may be polarized in policies. However, the church must lead the way in showing human dignity. The lack of respecting human dignity is the fundamental political problem of our day. Our politics problem is not a politics problem, the problem is deep in our sinful hearts.

This is biblical. This is the way Jesus wants His people to speak. If you’re in Christ, God saved you to speak blessing over people, not curses.

And if we think our God is okay with us speaking about His Image Bearers in a dehumanizing way (as long as they disagree with us politically), then we’re not worshiping the God of the Bible. We’re worshipping a god we’ve made up—and we need to repent.

So maybe you feel all of this deeply, and you feel very convicted. What do you do?

Come to the cross.

Confess.
Repent.
Make restitution.

Go back to the people you spoke poorly to and confess your sin. Go back to your buddies and tell them, “The way I’ve spoken about _____ is ungodly. I shouldn’t have done that.”

It’s never too late for you to forsake your ways and follow Jesus.

—Brandon

Photo by MD Duran on Unsplash