Disagree? Sure. Vilify? Nope.

As a citizen of this country, I have opinions about things that are being done well and others that are being done poorly. As a Christian, though, it is my responsibility to keep my tongue in check and not vilify people as I'm disagreeing with policy. I love these words by James Emery White in Christ Among the Dragons: Finding Our Way Through Cultural Challenges:

Consider what has been our political voice - at at least, what has been perceived to be our political voice. An editorial in Christianity Today titled "Hating Hillary" chronicles the depth of rancor and animosity among Christians toward Hillary Clinton, particularly during her run for the presidency. While her political stances have been polarizing, instead of civil discourse there was an avalanche of animosity expressed in everything from T-shirts, bumper stickers, voodoo dolls and "No Way in Hellary" barbeque aprons. At the 2004 Republican convention, a spokesman for the Family Research Council passed out fortune cookies with the message: "#1 reason to ban human cloning: Hillary Clinton." In anticipation of her historic run, which would have made her the first female president in U.S. History, the late Jerry Falwell announced at a 2006 Values Voter Summit, "I certainly hope that Hillary is the candidate. Because nothing would energize my [constituency] like Hillary Clinton. If Lucifer ran, he wouldn't."

So much for the "aroma of Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:15)

And it is easy to smell.

It reminds me of a story told by Martin Niemoller, a German Lutheran bishop who was called on to negotiate with Adolf Hitler during World War II in the attempt to save the church of Germany from being closed down by the Nazi dictator. Toward the end of his life Neimoller had a recurring dream in which he saw Hitler standing before Jesus on Judgment Day. When Jesus got off his throne, put his arm around Hitler and asked, "Adolf! Why did you do the ugly, evil things you did? Why were you so cruel?" Hitler, with his head bent low, simply answered, "Because nobody ever told me how much You loved me." At this point, Niemoller would wake up from his dream in a cold sweat, remembering the countless meetings he had with Hitler - face to face - and he never once said, "By the way, Fuhrer, Jesus loves you! He loves you more than you'll ever know. He loved you so much that He died for you. Do you know that?"

For Neimoller, this was a nightmare. For us, it is the heart of our challenge. (pp. 95-96; the link was added by me but everything else came from White's writing)

 I promise I'm not saying this to shame anyone, but did you chuckle at any of the Hillary remarks above? I'll admit that I did. And then I returned to the verse linked above,

For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

 And I was convicted.

Is it okay to hate Hillary? I don't think so. Is it okay to hate ____________ [insert name of politician you disagree with here or, for me, name of ridiculous political talking head on the airwaves]? I don't think so either.