I’ve seen a phenomenon in the church. I think it happens often enough to just about anyone in the church, not just pastor’s spouses.

What happens to our unity in Christ when politics are inserted into the relationship?

Scenario 1: Two people who know each other in church are quite good friends in their “church relationship.” At some point, they get to know each other well enough to find out that they do not agree on a political issue within their denomination. Since they got along so well, they just assumed that there were no glaring differences in how they viewed that topic (I’ll try to keep denominational affiliations out of it), so they are shocked at the fact that they disagreed so strongly when this denominational issue arose.

Scenario 2: I know of some black women pastor’s wives in the USA who are finding it extremely heartening to have the ideal of Michelle Obama as a role model for women in the church. I totally see how motivating this could be. There have been a number of “First Lady” role models during my years as a PW. They have changed in style over the years.

However, some PWs today, in sharing this enthusiasm with others, find that their emails mentioning this specific first lady as a role model to other pastor’s wives has offended some who do not have those political affinities at all.

In both scenarios, genuine Christians are enthusiastic and hopeful
about fellowship and change. However, once the political issue comes
into play, good friends find themselves in disagreement. And it
surprises them.

 Kind of sad, but very common. This little predicament is often why someone leaves a church or leaves fellowship with others. It is not often resolved well.

Would this be how it plays out in South Africa or Australia? Europe? Is there a better way to approach these things?