From Your Synod Executive

Toxic polarization is one of the defining traits of American culture in the 21^st century.  After the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondence Dinner last month, voices were divided.  Some on my social media feed shared theories about why the whole event must have been staged; others shared perspectives that the new White House ballroom will prevent such attempts in the future.  These posts were more prominent than those who simply decried the specific act of potential violence and voiced a longing for a more peaceful society.

Studies show that toxic polarization gets worse with each succeeding generation.  Decades ago it was easy to find a pro-life Democrat or a pro-choice Republican; these days we are much more strictly sorted into segments where we agree or disagree mostly in lock-step.

All of this is why I was glad to attend the One America Movement’s national gathering for faith leaders in Chicago last week.  (Learn more about the ministry here: One America Movement.)  Around 300 Christians, Jews, and Muslim religious leaders joined together to discuss how we can hold together in the midst of our differences.  I don’t believe I have ever attended a conference where every single speaker was so engaging and moving.  We heard stories from a Muslim woman whose cardiologist father treated the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan (against the patient’s wishes) and then developed a surprising lifelong connection with him and a Rabbi whose small congregation was held hostage by an anti-Semite.  It was challenging and inspiring and overwhelming and hopeful, all at the same time.

One of the speakers built off a construct from Robert Putnam’s groundbreaking 1990s book Bowling Alone.  Putnam speaks of two kinds of social capital:  “bonding” and “bridging.” Bonding connections form with people who are like us—people with similar backgrounds and interests—and provide emotional support, trust, and a sense of belonging.  Bridging relationships form between people of different groups, classes, or demographics, and provide new opportunities, resources, and opportunities.

The speaker reminded us of a big change since the late 1990s:  we often feel conflict and polarization even with people who are like us—those who in the past provided bonding social capital.  Today, however, it is people within our families who often most quickly drive us crazy because of our different perspectives.  The danger of these kind of relationships is that instead of providing the advantages of both bridging and bonding social capital, they provide neither.

This challenge reminds me of the gift that God gives us of being called together as the body of Christ, who walk alongside each other and hold each other close…not because we love each other, but because the Spirit binds us together.  The unity of the Spirit, as the Belhar Confession puts it, is both a gift and responsibility.  Here I quote at length from that statement of faith.

• Christ’s work of reconciliation is made manifest in the church as the community of believers who have been reconciled with God and with one another (Eph. 2:11-22);

• Unity is, therefore, both a gift and an obligation for the church of Jesus Christ; through the working of God’s Spirit it is a binding force, yet simultaneously a reality which must be earnestly pursued and sought: one which the people of God must continually be built up to attain (Eph. 4:1-16);

• This unity must become visible so that the world may believe that separation, enmity and hatred between people and groups is sin which Christ has already conquered, and accordingly anything which threatens this unity may have no place in the church and must be resisted (John 17:20-23);

Let’s join together, listening closely to each other and learning from each other in our congregations, presbyteries, and synod, and in our workplace and culture, and even on-line (especially on-line?). 

Grateful to be your partner in ministry,

Rev. Charles B Hardwick, PhD  

Executive    

chip@synodofthecovenant.org   

309-530-4578