A Guest Post by Steve Longenecker

Advent in the Shenandoah Valley, where I live, typically blends fall and winter. With a little luck, early December days can be quite pleasant and more like late fall. (No luck this year.) Evenings, however, are routinely chilly, and by solstice there’s no mistaking the season.

In that spirit, let me blend a recent autumn experience with the current holidays.

In September I spoke in the historic Brethren church situated on the Antietam battlefield. This little meetinghouse lay at the heart of the bloodiest day in American history. Several Confederate generals, including Stonewall Jackson, used it as an impromptu headquarters, and fighting swirled around it. The modest white church is prominent in an iconic Antietam photograph, and among the general public the Antietam Dunker meetinghouse is probably the most famous Brethren moment.

In September 1862, when the battle was fought, this diminutive church was very different. It had no stained glass, no pulpit, no pulpit furniture, no pews, no pew rent, no seat cushions, no carpeting, no steeple, no organ, no bell, and barren walls. Women sat on one side and men on the other. These Brethren were also progressive on race and slavery.

The Antietam meetinghouse was very different on purpose. Brethren in this generation believed that the world was sinful and that God wanted them separate from it. Combined with a deep commitment to humility, they practiced intense plainness and outsiderness. It worked for them. This was my September.

This Advent, I intend to draw inspiration from the Antietam Brethren and live differently in twenty-first century ways. Whether in the mid-nineteenth century or the early twenty-first, Christians aren’t like everybody else. Whether conservatives who are born again or progressives accepted by God unconditionally, Christians are distinct. But rather than replicating the Antietam Dunkers and their plain meetinghouse—maybe church organs (or guitars) aren’t the worst thing in the world, after all—our calling is to be different in a twenty-first century manner. This Advent may we listen to Jesus and draw inspiration from those who sat on cushion-less benches in the Antietam meetinghouse to find another way of living that works in our time.

Here are three ways to stick out today in a nice way. Each is a timely contribution to our broken society, so damaged by social isolation, declining social interaction, disappearing empathy, and general distrust.

1. Respect the other tribe, the one you consider Samaritan. Admittedly, sometimes the other side is simply irrational; conspiracy theories come to mind. And some belief systems are absolutely sinful: racism, misogyny, and genocide are quick examples. There’s no compromising with them. But if you think that your side is always right and the other always wrong, you are part of the problem. Be faithful to core convictions but try to understand the other side. Apologies, but if I give nuanced examples of beliefs that are mostly wrong but still have a valid point or two, I’ll lose readers. We’re that divided. We need more folks who (when appropriate) respect the other team and who understand that often (but not always) life is complicated.
2. Be civil. Civility in today’s public discourse is an increasingly scarce commodity. Some progressives justify incivility if they think the other person is a privileged oppressor and some conservatives cast manners aside if they think the other person is woke, but we can be different by treating the Other as we wish to be treated.
3. Regard all persons with dignity. Historian Jon Meacham explains the current wave of political violence by suggesting that we no longer recognize that everybody has worth, similar to the wave of violence in the Sixties. As simple as it sounds, recognizing that all deserve respect is a major contribution and, sad to say, will make us different. The good news is that it gives us something to do.

In sum, be empathetic, be respectful, be civil, and be a healer.

Be the first to give somebody the benefit of the doubt who needs it. Go into the faculty room and say something nice about the principal. Find someone sitting alone in a back row and chat them up. Give Christmas cookies to your neighbors. (We don’t know our neighbors anymore.) Liberals, take a privileged oppressor to lunch. Conservatives, have coffee with somene who is woke. Be a good listener and get to know them. These yokes are easy.

One of the messages of Advent is that Jesus brought hope to a dark world, and in that spirit may we exude light in our dark times. We won’t do that by behaving conventionally and making everything worse.

Instead, may all see that that we are different and that the lines have fallen unto us in pleasant places. Merry Christmas!

Steve Longenecker is Professor of History, emeritus, at Bridgewater College (VA).