One of the realities most endangering the health and stability of our nation is political polarization. A majority of Americans now gather in “tribes” who no longer want to talk to, listen to or even be around each another. In fact, levels of actual hate that political parties feel for one another have never been greater.
My longtime friend Wayne Jacobsen and two colleagues have written a book that speaks directly into this depressing, seemingly hopeless situation: A Language of Healing for a Polarized Nation: Creating Safe Environments for Conversations about Race, Politics, Sexuality and Religion
I’ve known Wayne for over 30 years since we were fellow pastors in Visalia, CA. He’s published several best-selling books and was one the creative forces behind the immensely popular book and movie, The Shack.
This is not a specifically Christian book but it performs a supremely Christian service: it makes the case to see “the other” as precious human beings just like us, all made in the image of God. As Wayne says in the interview to follow: “Love doesn’t demand agreement; it only demands understanding and empathy.”
It’s easy to think we as individuals are powerless, but we are not! This book is full of sound wisdom and practical advice to begin our own “language of healing” and make a difference wherever we live.
Wayne, thanks for taking your time to share about your book (Wayne is on the right in the photo above). I’m thankful for the reception your book is already receiving and hope that many more will find it as life-giving as I have. Here are four key questions:
1) Why did you write this book?
I tried to write a book in early 2000 called, When Worldviews Collide, from my work with Bridge Builders helping people across diverse religious, political, and racial lines find a way to collaborate to mutually satisfying solutions. I was concerned about the trends of polarization in our own country, making anyone who disagrees with us the enemy, rather than fighting for the common ground.
However, I found publishers resistant to doing a book about peacemaking. “Choose a side and vilify the other,” they told . “We can sell that book. People won’t buy books about peacemaking.”
Since the early 2000s our polarization for every metric has only grown worse. There is more anger in our culture than cooperation, more misunderstanding than a willingness to reach across the aisle and find our common ground.
A few years ago a friend, Bob Prater, one of my coauthors on this book, approached me asking if I wanted to write a book with him called The Language of Healing in a Polarized Nation. This was essentially the same information I wanted to write, albeit in a different package. I immediately said yes, and we soon we found a necessary third voice, Arnita Taylor from Texas, to add her perspectives.
Writing this book and having conversations about it has been some of the most rewarding experiences of my life. We are seeing people’s perspectives shift, the rhetoric lower, and people finding a way to respect those whose views might different from their own.
I have grown in my own capacity to appreciate the wonderful tapestry that embracing our differences reveals.
2) What is the main theme?
Love doesn’t demand agreement; it only demands understanding and empathy. Unless we learn to share this nation with people who live, think, and look differently than we do, we will continue to degenerate into the polarizing animosity we see today.
Politicians and media exploit our national divide for market share, political power, and income. Unless the average citizen can see beyond this commercialization of our differences, we have little hope of fulfilling our ideals of “liberty and justice for all.”
Achieving that will demand a vast majority of citizens committing to a common good even above their own personal preferences.
3) What’s one thing you’d say to potential readers?
Intentionally build friendships with people who are different from you.
We give a lot of examples and exercises to help people reach out beyond their in-group to invest time with people they would not normally seek out. We will treat issues differently when we don’t de-humanize people whose life-experience is different from ours.
There is more to gain in sharing our common humanity than there is in staying segregated in our own cultural or theological groups.
4) What is your message to Christians surrounding these issues?
This book wasn’t written primarily to a Christian audience, because we need everyone at the table. However, there is a lot of God-talk in it, because all the coauthors are passionate about their relationship to Jesus Christ.
We hope that those who know God will want to lead the way in living more generously alongside people in the world. We also think that’s an important ingredient to making God known in the world.
You can’t share Jesus with people you’re angry at, or with people who are angry at you.
Want to Learn More?
- Book Website: https://www.alanguageofhealing.com
- Review by a black pastor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O5tJ1dexkc
- Podcast with the three authors: https://www.thegodjourney.com/2019/08/02/the-language-of-healing-691/
- To order a copy: https://www.lifestream.org/product/a-language-of-healing-for-a-polarized-nation/ or find it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or other book distributors. There is also an audio version from Audible
