The Tree We Keep Eating From - My first Political Blog Post

Let's be honest, America is a divided house, and we all know what Jesus said about those. The way we talk to each other—online, in coffee shops, at family dinners— it reveals a deeper problem than policy disagreements. It shows a choice we keep making, one that started long before America was even an idea.

Back in story of the garden, Adam and Eve stood before two trees: the Tree of Life, offering intimate connection with God, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, offering certainty about right and wrong. The tragedy wasn’t just that they ate the fruit—it was that they chose knowledge over relationship. Instead of trusting their Father, they grabbed control. They lost connection in their pursuit of being right.

And we’ve been making that same choice ever since.

Why We Keep Choosing Knowledge Over Relationship

Somewhere along the way, we’ve come to believe that if we could just get everyone to see things our way, everything would be okay. If the right party wins, if the right policies are in place, if we could just shut down the wrong opinions, then things will finally work.

But here’s the problem: no one has ever been argued into love. No one has ever been fact-checked into unity. We can win the debate and still lose the person.

When we value being right over being in relationship, we become the opposite of what Jesus modeled. To be very clear - He never compromised truth, but He also never let truth get in the way of love. The Pharisees were masters of knowing good and evil, but Jesus—who literally is the Truth—chose dinner tables over debates. He chose people over proving a point.

So what if we did the same?

Relationship First: A Better Way Forward

What if healing America isn’t about winning the argument, but winning back our ability to love each other? What if the country is stronger when we disagree well, rather than when one side conquers the other?

Here’s what choosing relationship over being right could look like in practice:

1. Listen to Understand
   Instead of loading up our next point while the other person is talking, what if we actually tried to hear them? Not to agree—just to understand. Jesus asked more questions than He gave answers. Maybe we should too.
   
   
2. Refuse easy answer to complex questions
   The person across from you isn’t just a Republican or a Democrat. They’re a human, made in God’s image, with a story that shaped their beliefs. What if we valued the relationship enough to see them before we saw their stance?
   
   
3. Stop competing
   What if we stopped treating political conversations like a boxing match and started treating them like a family discussion? That means sometimes leaving a conversation unresolved, because keeping the relationship is more important than proving our point.
   
   
4. Let Him be God - you pray!
   Not the kind of prayer that asks God to fix them, but the kind that asks God to bless them. It’s hard to dehumanize someone you’re interceding for. Jesus washed Judas’ feet knowing he would betray Him. Why?  Any chance heunderstands something I don't? Can we love like that?
   
   
5. Keep the main thing the main thing
   No election, no law, no policy has ever been the hope of the world. That job belongs to Jesus alone. When we put our faith in politics to fix what only God can heal, we’re eating from the wrong tree all over again. The fruit always looks good—but it never delivers what it promises.
   
   

A Nation Built on Relationship

America was founded on an idea—that people from different backgrounds, beliefs, and convictions could live together in unity. Not uniformity, but unity. A house built on mutual respect, not endless battles to be right.

If we want to see that strength again, maybe it’s time to put down our apples and walk back toward the Tree of Life. Maybe it’s time to choose connection over control, love over certainty, and Jesus over our own understanding.

Because in the end, it won’t be our arguments that heal our country.

It’ll be our love.