“Ins” for 2025
In a recent Substack, I shared three “outs” for Christians to stop doing in 2025. As a continuation of that conversation, today’s post offers three “ins” to begin practicing in the coming year.
Valuing People over Policy
Especially in the last several months, the U.S. political landscape has been a prime example of what happens when we value our ideology more than we care about the people those ideals will affect.
We claim to love people while supporting policies that harm them because in a perfect world, those policies could work. While it’s well and good to have ideals and philosophies about how society can best function, the problem lies in continually supporting those policies when they aren’t working (and worse, when they’re negatively affecting people’s lives).
Jesus challenged corrupt systems, always valuing people more highly than laws or ideologies. May we do the same.
Centering Others in Their Stories
We cling so tightly to our institutions, insisting that because a belief, church, or political party hasn’t harmed us in the way someone else has experienced, their story must not be true.
This is the danger of centering ourselves in other people’s stories—of listening to defend our closely held beliefs rather than to empathize with another. In doing so, we miss out on the opportunity to love and show up for others. We also reinforce the idea that the systems we’ve created matter more than the people they affect.
May we truly hear others’ stories and honor their lived experiences without needing to argue how our experiences have been different or to defend the systems which have harmed them.
Choosing Compassion
In times of global and political tension, an easy response is to become numb, calloused to the suffering of others. While we may not always be in a position to help, we can always choose to keep our hearts soft—embodying compassion for all people and their pain.
May we weep with those who weep, breaking for the pain of others and standing against injustice on their behalf.
