Whatever Happened to Respect?

As the first official debate of 2020 raged between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, I was counseling at the office. I arrived home to a silent house. My teenage son and wife were shocked. The debate was going off as I walked into the room. I asked, “How did it go?” They both replied something to the fact that they had never seen something so disrespectful in modern politics. I watched the rerun. They were right. Two ill-tempered men shouting at each other.

Whatever happened to respect?

President Trump interrupted. Vice President Biden called names.

President Trump acted like a bulldozer. Vice President Biden hurled insults.

President Trump raised his voice. Vice President Biden told him to shut up.

President Trump lost. Vice President Biden lost. America lost.

Respect Matters

Speechless. Dumbfounded. Weary. All words that capture the responses of those that watched the debate.

Why? Because both men failed to demonstrate respect for each other or respect for the American people.

Writing about the follower of Christ’s relationship with government, the Apostle Peter commanded, “Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king” (1 Pet 2:17).

Honor all people means to show an inner respect for all people. As individuals made in the image of God, every person is due some degree of respect (cf., Gen 1:26; Gen 9:6; James 3:9). In other words, a general respect toward others that produces kindness is connected to one’s creation not a matter of being earned. Can one earn more respect? Absolutely. However, a person never forfeits the right to be respected as another individual person because all people are made in the image of God. Therefore, as followers of Christ, God forbids us discriminating for any reason; He requires respect toward others (not tolerance for any kind of conduct that sins against God or others but respect for the other person as a person), and connects basic respect to the image of God.

Respect matters.

Do Better Than Our Leaders

Have you ever heard the statement, “Leading from behind”?

This is what we must all do as Americans who are made in the image of God. Please don’t miss this:

Regardless of whether or not the two leaders of both political parties demonstrate respect for each other, we must.

We must respect each other.

• We can disagree with respect. Just because you disagree with another person does not mean you should not or can not show them respect. In fact, just the opposite is true. When you demonstrate respect for the other person, even when that person disagrees with you, you honor God, place value on the image of God, and show kindness. Agreement on an issue or policy or anything may be nice, but it is not necessary for respect.
• Give space for another person to be heard. You do not know what a person says unless you give them the space to actually speak. If it is written, then read it. Wise people listen. Respectful people listen without interrupting.
• Focus on the problem instead of attacking the person. How childish to call names, hurl insults, and otherwise attack another person (Eph 4:29). If there is a disagreement in policy or opinion, then discuss the disagreement. The point of conversation is solution. Respectful people keep focused on the issue that needs to be resolved rather than attacking the other person. When you attack another person, you cloud the issues, make it difficult to have a real conversation, and short-circuit the conversation.
• Choose kindness instead of harshness. We make a choice. I can choose to be kind, seek to listen with respect, and show you grace as another person in the image of God or I can respond with anger, bitterness, loud tones, ugly words, and no grace (Eph 4:31-32). Therefore, choose kindness, choose calmness, and choose your words carefully.
• Exhort each other to our best not our worst. As conversations go, encourage each other to what is best, not what is worst. Bullying, disrespect, hollering, and manipulating each other is out. Instead, choose words that come alongside the other person, respect his or her personhood, and demonstrate you have listened.

We are in this TOGETHER!

None of us want a divided nation. There may be some who do, but not all of us in the middle.

None of us want a chaos. There may be some who do, but not the vast majority of us in the middle.

None of us want this to continue. Again, there may be some who might, but now the rest of us.

The past thirty years have hurt us badly. The dawn of social media prominence, the mainstream media downgrade, and the weakness of the home have worked together to create a national nightmare. Was it perfect before the 1990 election? Absolutely not. For ages people have suggested it is best to stay away from issues like religion and politics.

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