The Civility of the Meek

You may have noticed that disparate sociopolitical viewpoints are treated with less courtesy than they used to be, even among the sons and daughters of God. A lot of people seem to prefer to silence their opponents than to engage with them for the purpose of influencing their neighbors toward the way they believe is best for the common good.

I place no blame at the feet of those in high political office for the lack of civility in our national conversation. But from where I sit the present administration has exposed a number of malignancies in our culture, including many in the Christian community. Like the storm that unearthed a landfill, this political tsunami uncovered decades of decay in America and in the Body of Christ. Certain politicians, along with their fawning courtiers didn’t dump the trash there; they just excavated it.

Jesus modeled and taught us a new social order and then bequeathed it to our care to model and teach others. Even those outside his kingdom can benefit from a world in which his kingdom comes to rest.

This is an excerpt from a book I hope to publish in the near future on the Sermon on the Mount called: What In The World? Some Moral, Social, and Politically Disruptive Implications of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

As such, I’d appreciate your feedback on this post and others to come in order to make the final copy publish-worthy.