This was the most intense election and consequently charged spiritual environment that I’ve experienced in my life. I’ve observed some behavior in society as we exit this election year. Not good behavior, might I add. I want to speak into the kinds of attitudes and spirits that are trying to affect us so that you can pay attention, be aware of your thoughts and words, and choose to partner with light instead of darkness. This is important if we want to have influence and disciple our nation. Before the election I wrote a post on the political spirit. Now that the campaigning is over, I am still seeing the fruit of this spirit and its partner, the religious spirit, proudly parading all over conversations and social media.
The political spirit and the religious spirit have several things in common. Here are 12 indicators of people that are being influenced by political and religious spirits:
1. They fear people they can’t control.
2. They assign motives to people they actually don’t know.
3. They demonize those with whom they disagree.
4. They create an “us” and “them” mentality.
5. They spiritualize the demeaning of those with different persuasions.
6. They feel justified in applying a different standard of behavior towards those who they deem wrong.
7. They refuse to acknowledge the positive accomplishments of those they vilify.
8. They assign blame for all the problems of society to one people group.
9. They are blind to their own prejudices.
10. They judge themselves gently by their intentions, and others harshly by their actions.
11. They redefine dishonoring attitudes as virtuous attributes.
12. They gather in packs, feeding off of the self righteousness of the others in their group.
COMING BACK INTO ALIGNMENT
I am saddened by how much of this I see in myself.
Lord, help me to give no place in my heart to these spirits. Give me love for the people I strongly disagree with. Teach me how to hear their concerns and listen to their cries with my heart. Show me how to be a father to all the people in our nation. Give me insights on how to be noble and virtuous; holding to righteous convictions while being patient with those who are living by a different standard.
Have you noticed yourself partnering with this behavior? How do you separate yourself from this kind of thinking? I’d love to hear about your process in the comments below.