In the same way that getting berated over leaving a bowl in the sink is a disproportionate reaction to the offense, political opinions are also prone to elicit disproportionate responses. In fact, politics are more divisive than religion. The majority of us would respectfully agree that we each have a freedom to practice religion, yet have no problem lobbing insults at the opposing political camp. Politics are so charged and provoke such strong emotional responses because they play on these two emotions: fear and hope.
Note that fear and hope are emotions, and not necessarily information. Fear can be described as the backdoor to hope, and hope is the backdoor to fear. They are intimately connected because they are both future oriented. This connection is incredibly important because at the end of the day, what we fear has the ability to control us. Jesus came to take control of our entire lives. Matthew 10 shows us how we can be rooted in this reality and trust God with it.
Jesus says he is sending his disciples out as “sheep among wolves.” He goes on to describe how we should react to all of the plainly awful things that will happen to his disciples, reminding that his disciples will face opposition because, “a disciple is not above his teacher.” In essence, Jesus says that because they persecute him, they will also persecute his followers. His advice culminates to the point where he tells the disciples not to fear those who would persecute them, but “Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Jesus is here calling us to fear the one who has more power and more responsibility over you than anything else. If a child says to his father “This other 5-year-old told me I should do this”, the Father’s response would be, “Do not fear the 5-year-old, fear your father.” Jesus calls us to ultimately place our fear and our hope in our creator. Our current political climate reveals to us that we have built our hope on a civic system rather than a resurrected savior. Thus, we as the Church can place our hope in Jesus, our fear in the Lord, turn our eyes to the God who was willing to sacrifice for us.