Polarization. The Thief of Love?

When you hear the word “polarization” or “polarized,” no doubt two groups or peoples (if not more) arose to the forefront of your mind. It is impossible to ignore the wars fought societally, physically, geographically, or psychologically. Our world now wrought with sorrow, bitterness, and rage. I must preface this post seeks not to influence or press sensitivities on any political standing, national affiliation, etc. As Christians, however, we cannot plead ignorance. People are in pain. Within our own nation and across the globe, people groups are both met with animosity and give hostility. People both cower in fear and lead from terror. From north to south to east to west, the Great Enemy of all—Satan himself—seeks to govern humanity in fear, anger, vengeance, brokenness, pride, and shame. Satan wields the bow of disunity and aims it at anyone attempting reconciliation of any kind. The Enemy thrives off of conflict and division because in a world marked by polarization, there is no love.

As a Christian, I want to be the first to repent that I myself have before fallen into the trap of polarization. Perhaps you, like me, remember a time when you rejected a person rather than merely their beliefs or values. I do not pretend to have never felt the effects of extreme anger, face burning against another person or people group due to some disagreement or challenge. Perhaps I was right, and they were wrong. Perhaps they were right, and I was wrong. Perhaps we were both partly right and both partly wrong. Or maybe they were not even incorrect, you or I just suffered from an intense distaste for their personality, opinions, habits, or culture. Do we not so often put ourselves in boxes? Separating ourselves in sections from those we do not desire any interaction or affiliation? Whom do we ignore? Whom do we close ourselves off to based on assumptions? Polarization, or disunity, has often slipped into our daily habits even if we live not in a physical state of war. And no one wins in war.

A proper response to this realization? Lament? Probably. Sorrow? Possibly. Despair? Never.

Again, I do not write this to tell you who is right and who is wrong, but to expose the fact that we all have had some part to play in the disunity of the world. We have either been a side or picked a side at some time in our life and have suffered the consequences for better or for worse. And I say this not to deter anyone for pursuing justice, righteousness, facts, data, and resources. In fact, I encourage you to pursue great amounts of content from all types of groups to better understand how people think and how people are hurting (and for the Christian, how to pray and respond).

So, what am I trying to say? Polarization is not the heart of God. In fact, this intense disunity oppresses everything that God is.

“For this is how it will be on earth

among the nations:

like a harvested olive tree,

like a gleaning after a grape harvest.

They raise their voices, they sing out;

they proclaim in the west

the majesty of the Lord.

Therefore, in the east honor the Lord!

In the islands of the west

honor the name of Yahweh,

the God of Israel.

From the ends of the earth we hear songs:

The Splendor of the Righteous One.”

-Isaiah 24:13-16a

“After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

Salvation belongs to our God,

who is seated on the throne,

and to the Lamb!”

-Revelation 7:9-10

Nations, peoples, tribes, and tongues are not polarized but brought together. The ends of the earth are called together as one.

I do not know your story, readers, whether you are Christian or non-Christian or consider yourself somewhere in between. But as the world flurries around you with a tone of anger, sorrow, and confusion, know this: God desires to unify the world into perfect harmony. God passionately loves every people group of the world. He wants all types of people from all types of cultures to live in a state of peace and love with one another and with Himself. The Scriptures are dripping with God’s love for all nations. I am not naïve to the fact that many people believe Christians pick sides out of anger and judgement. For some, perhaps that has been the case. And it breaks my heart to admit that. (Yes, of course, there is something to be said about pursuing Biblical justice for the sake of the hurting, voiceless, and oppressed. Right and wrong exist, and God desires for us to be a blessing to those in need. But even when we disagree—and perhaps rightfully so—with those who have caused harm, we must not seek vengeance and destruction as the cure. For it will not cure in the way you hoped it might. Polarization against an entire entity of people is not the answer and never will be.)

For many followers of Christ, however, our hearts have always yearned for unity and love to shatter any barriers of differences. As a believer in Jesus, I pray my vision (given by the Spirit of God) continues to grow and see beyond the built-up walls into the heart of another soul in need of love, forgiveness, wholeness, and healing. The bow of disunity wielded by Satan does not have to be our master any longer, even now.

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. And do not offer any parts of it to sin as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God, and all the parts of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law but under grace.”

-Romans 6:12-14

This does not mean a Christian, or even God, desires a world where all people are exactly the same, looking the same, dressing the same, creating the same, etc. The Trinity displays well the beautiful reality of diversity within unity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—the three persons of one God—exhibit different roles, purposes, and even showcase different facets of God’s personality and love. He seeks to unite our world similarly. Unity within diversity. My heart flutters a little at this glorious proposition.

Do you not also long for an experience where the songs of multiple languages echo through your ears, you look down and see yourself hand in hand with a skin color different than your own, you smell sweet and savory aromas of a multiethnic meal flowing about the air, watch a procession of dance and color moving fluidly to the beat of a thousand drums? What a glorious day that will be. A unified day. A joyful day. A day of humility. A day of peace. A perfect day.

How might God enact this wondrous plan of destroying polarization?

As far as the east is from the west,

so far has He removed

our transgressions from us.

-Psalm 103:12

He will polarize polarization. God removes the transgressions of humankind from humankind. God takes all our selfishness, brokenness, and sin and eradicates it farther away from us than we knew possible. Farther than far. Father than any human mind can comprehend. He removes sin. Removes guilt. Removes shame. Removes hate. Removes fear. Removes prejudice. The only polarization that will ever be good for us is the removal of our sin. Jesus Christ made possible perfect unity with others and with God when He died on the cross to pay the consequence for all our errors. Our polarizational lifestyles (yes, I just made that word up), our selfishness, our pride, our arrogance, our judgements, our bitterness, our lack of forgiveness will kill us… body, heart, and soul. But Jesus Christ chose to willingly receive the consequence of all wrongdoings (even wrongthinkings and wrongsayings!) so that we may have an opportunity to experience the wholeness we were always created for.

Oh, and by the way… I remind you that Death itself could not keep Jesus in the grave.

God raised Him [Jesus] up, ending the pains of death, 

because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.

-Acts 2:24

You may freely accept and join with Christ in this life—body, heart, and soul—for a promise of eternal living in the never-ending love of God and others. What we get to do now is ask God how to begin living for that love and unity… but that’s another blog for another time.

In conclusion, when God removes the bad, only the good remains. When only good remains, perfect unity is possible. God promises this day. He welcomes any who want to accompany Him into it. It may not come tomorrow, but once it arrives, every tomorrow will showcase the most radiant, glorious, all-satisfying, all-consuming love and joy we can only now dimly guess at.

Becca Thompson

March 21, 2024