How Not to Be Divisive in Divisive Times

I’ve thought a lot about unity the past several months as I get acclimated to being a part of a new team. Unity is the difference maker when it comes to team success. It doesn’t matter if you have exceptional talent if everyone is rowing in their own direction and fulfilling their own agenda. For our team it’s simple. It’s all about Jesus.

We live in divisive times.

Turn on the news, open social media, listen to a conversation around the break room table and you’ll quickly discover that we have become very good at drawing lines between us and them.

As followers of Jesus, we aren’t called to pretend those differences don’t exist. We’re called to do something much harder.

We’re called to be peacemakers.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

Notice He didn’t say peacekeepers.

There’s a difference.

A peacekeeper may avoid difficult conversations to keep everyone comfortable.

A peacemaker is willing to enter the difficult places and work toward reconciliation.

Peacekeeping asks, “How can I keep everyone from getting upset?”

Peacemaking asks, “How can I remain faithful to Christ while loving the person standing across from me?”

That’s a much harder question.

Peacemaking takes courage because being a peacemaker doesn’t mean abandoning biblical truth.

Jesus never compromised truth to make people comfortable. He loved people deeply while speaking truth plainly. He confronted hypocrisy. He challenged injustice. He welcomed outsiders. He forgave sinners.

Grace and truth weren’t competitors in Jesus. They were companions.

So how do we live this way in a divided world?

Listen before labeling.
The person you disagree with is not a caricature, a political party, a social-media post, or a stereotype. They’re a person made in the image of God.

Refuse contempt.
We can disagree without dehumanizing. We can challenge an idea without attacking someone’s worth.

Speak truth without weaponizing it.
The Gospel is not a hammer we’re supposed to use on people. Truth is meant to set people free.

Don’t confuse conviction with anger.
You can be deeply convicted and still be remarkably kind.

Know when to speak and when to be quiet.
Not every argument deserves your participation. Sometimes the most Christlike thing you can say is nothing at all.

Build bridges without watering down the Gospel.
We don’t have to agree with everyone to love them. And loving someone doesn’t require us to affirm everything they believe or do.

Paul put it beautifully:

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18)

I especially like those three words:

“So far as it depends on you.”

We can’t control how other people respond. We can’t make everyone like us. We aren’t able to resolve every disagreement.

However, we can control how we show up.

We can choose humility over arrogance and curiosity over assumption. We can choose kindness over contempt and truth over tribalism. We can decide to forgive rather than resent and choose love over winning.

Jesus doesn’t call us to become less Christian in order to get along with people.

to become more like Christ.

And perhaps that’s what our divided world needs most; not Christians who are better at winning arguments, but Christians who are so rooted in Jesus that they can stand firmly in truth while extending their hands in love.

Easier said than done, I know.

Be a peacemaker. Not because the world is peaceful.

But because Christ is our peace.

And in a world determined to divide people into us and them, perhaps one of the most countercultural things we can do is look across the divide and say:

You are still my neighbor. And Jesus still calls me to love you.

Until my next post…

Be salty, stay lit.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™

© 2026 Rainer Bantau | The Devotional Guy™ | All Rights Reserved