Hold These Truths Discussion Guide - Week 2

Welcome
As the election draws closer the appearance of political signs in yards and windows is becoming more and more common. Raise your hand if you’ve ever judged your neighbor based on their political signs….just kidding! You don’t have to raise your hand. Lets just trust that most of us have done this once or twice. This week we will shift our views from political issues and look at how Jesus wants us to approach people with political views that differ from ours.


Opening Prayer
God of love, we invite your presence into our conversation. Help us to choose to listen and to seek to understand. Give us courage to speak what is on our minds and hearts, and give us compassion to receive one another with love. Thank you for making this a space where we can practice the tricky political conversations we face all around us. Amen.


Ice Breaker
Remember back in school, or in books and movies, when kids run for class president on platforms like unlimited recess or fast food in the cafeteria? Tell us your least serious policy proposal.


The Head
The final days of Jesus’ life were full of violence, fear, anger, and political clashes. Sound familiar? In the face of many competing views and people grasping for power Jesus instructed his disciples to live a different way. This week we will look at two passages of scripture from the final week of Jesus’ life where he emphasizes the importance of a kind of love not often practiced.

Matthew 22:36-40

36 “Teacher, what is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 He replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

• What, if anything, do you think differentiates loving with your heart, loving with your being (sometimes translated as soul), and loving with your mind?
• How does loving our neighbor as we love ourselves differ from just loving our neighbor?

John 15:9-14

9 “As the Father loved me, I too have loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete. 12 This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 

• Jesus draws a direct line from the love of God the Father to the love we are to give to each other. Why do you think that is important? 
• What aspects of the way Jesus loves us can we apply to the way we love one another? 

The Heart
Political positions are directly linked to deeply held values. We hold the views we hold and vote the way we vote for good reasons. And, if this is true of you and me, this is also inevitably true of people we disagree with politically. While the world around us does its best to foster division, fear, and hate among people who disagree, Jesus challenges us to live another way. What changes in our hearts are required for us to lead with love?

• When it comes to politics, do you most often view people on the other side as enemies, neighbors, or something else? What factors inform this mindset? 
• A key part of the love Jesus offers us is grace. What would it look like for you to extend grace to people you disagree with politically? 
• Cast a vision for what our political system could look like if it was less divided. What hopes could become reality in our relationships, in our communities, and in our country if we led with love? 

The Hands
If you know anything about John Welsey, the founder of Methodism, it might be that he could be a bit of a stickler. Wesley was very concerned with not just the beliefs of Christ followers, but with the actions they did (and didn’t do) on a daily basis. To help people pursue a way of living consistent with Jesus’ teachings he gave them three rules, “Do no harm, do good, and stay in love with God.” They sound simple, but when applied they can guide us toward the path of holiness.

• Do no harm
  • In what ways have you participated in the divisiveness of our political environment?
  • How can you resist the temptation to tear others down in political conversations?

• Do good
• How would you describe a mindset focussed on “good” in your life?
• What actions can you take to impact change around political issues you care deeply about? 
• Stay in love with God
  • What practices do you have for staying connected to God and reminded of God’s vision for our politics? 
  • What barriers do you face in trying to stay in love with God (and God’s people!)?

Closing Prayer
Holy God, help us to live up to your challenge to love everyone as we love ourselves. Calm our nerves and fill us with hope for the future of our country. Help us to trust that you are in control. No matter where we stand on issues, make us people who are known for the way we love. Amen.


Going Deeper
Jesus, Religion and Politics by Rev. Adam Hamilton (November 2, 2020)