On Faith and Politics
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons
Day 1 of 9: A Politics of Love Thy Neighbor
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this.”
-Galatians 5:22-23 (NRSV)
How should Christians vote? If anyone has an easy answer for you, don’t trust them.
Interpreting how we should live out our values as followers of Jesus in today’s society is a complex question. But I do know one thing for sure: the values we uphold as Christians should center us during this tumultuous election season. Over the next nine days, I’ll be sharing reflections on faith and politics. Our guide will be the fruit of the Spirit as described by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22-23.
Earlier in the chapter, Paul writes that our freedom is not a freedom to be selfish. Rather, it’s a freedom to serve each other through love. “All the Law has been fulfilled in a single statement: Love your neighbor as yourself” (5:14). This is the grounding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Consider how you would respond if someone asked “who are you voting for during this election?” A faithful response might be “I’m voting for my neighbor as an expression of Christian love. I’m voting for the candidate whose policies and whose character best reflects my love of my neighbor.” No politician or political party will ever be perfect, but we can always strive to do our best to live out the command to love our neighbor.
We don’t often hear about love in politics. One of my favorite moments in recent political memory, though, was a speech that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (who frequently talks about her Christian faith) gave in 2019 about the “politics of love thy neighbor.” She rooted all of her advocacy for policies around saving the environment and providing healthcare for all as expressions of loving our neighbors. You don’t have to agree with every single one of AOC’s policies to agree that loving our neighbor is an ideal way for Christians to engage politics.
Love is the first of the fruits of the Spirit we will discuss during this series on faith and politics. My prayer is that loving our neighbors as ourselves will be the first guiding principle for all Christian political engagement. As we walk through all of the fruits of the Spirit and as we walk through this election season, may God’s radical love for all people and all of Creation guide us.
Call to Action: One way we love our neighbor is by voting. Go to iwillvote.com to make sure you’re registered and find out information about how to vote.
Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons (he/him)
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