Christians must be 'major influencers' in American politics, say activists on opposite sides

Given that many Christians have joined the faith due to trying life circumstances that inspired them to turn to Christ for assistance, I'm not sure I would be inclined to generalize Christians as "nice people" who are fountains of political civility. I've seen violent reactions from Christians and non-Christians at about an equal rate online. In person, most of my Christian friends and family have right-leaning beliefs and unusual political perspectives, which leads them to villainize the left as the enemy. Said villainization is pride.

Political civility is a skill that must be learned, and it can be learned by the unbeliever as easily as the saint. In fact, unbelievers often have an easier time of learning it because they accept other perspectives more readily and are less likely to become narrow minded. But the Christian is more likely to maintain political civility once they have learned it because they had to go the long way around.

As far as I can tell, Christian political civility is recognizing that current politics are shifting sand and Christ is the Rock. This removes one's emotional attachment to a particular party or candidate. Jesus Christ is Lord and He is the final authority; Our citizenship is in heaven. "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?" (Psalm 2:1) No purpose of Christ can be thwarted by political leaders. This means that no political moment is truly a threat to God, and we do not need to defend him, for He will defend himself just fine.

The second part of said political civility is to hold your worldly efforts and your life and death with a loose hand, and to learn the art of withstanding.

Ephesians 6:13 said:

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having prevailed against everything, to stand firm.

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A lot of Christians (and non-Christians) feel personally threatened by the other political party, probably because they have money and employment wrapped up in a certain party winning. It's difficult to get out of that mindset without realizing that the other party doesn't care about you at all - they don't even know you exist. God will provide regardless of whether they win or not. God will advance regardless of whether you succeed or fail. The Gospel will be spread regardless of whether you live or die. You are sitting on a rock watching sand blowing by.

And sorry to say, no amount of Christianity will make it better when the sand gets in your eyes. The best thing you can do is to wash it out and keep sitting on the Rock, rather than getting angry and screaming at the sand. Your identity is in Christ as a new creation, and that will never change. One party wins, you are, the other one wins, you are. It doesn't matter - almost might as well disengage where civility is concerned. That's different from Christian influence on political causes and consequences.

Unbelievers can recognize this if they pick an identity for themselves that isn't politically involved. Sure, Christianity is the ultimate removal from political identification and thus a source of political civility, but it's not the only one and so we would be wise to recognize the truth of the matter here.

We are here to bring God‘a Kingdom on earth. So yes, we must influence everything in our daily lives.