Polarised

 It’s interesting to reflect on the word ‘polarise’.  If I remember correctly I first came across the word in connection with a photography hobby.  When I bought my first 35mm camera as a teenager I bought some ‘optional extras’ that included a polarising filter.  Later I learned that polaroid sunglasses had already been produced since 1935 – a decade before I was even a twinkle in the eyes of my parents.  Technically speaking, the polarising filter on my camera ensured that the vibrations of light waves worked only in one direction, giving a much sharper view, for example, of clouds on a sunny day.  It allowed me to photograph a fish in the water as the filter cancelled out reflected light from the water’s surface.

The literal meaning of the word makes a lot of sense and we’ve come to understand the word these days especially as representing two extremes – as though they are from opposite ends of the earth.  Something becomes ‘polarised’ as it moves closer to either the North Pole or the South Pole – our earthly geographical extremities..

I got to thinking about this after the assassination of Charlie Kirk in the U.S.  It was an event that ‘polarised’ people.  At the one extreme were people who were absolutely devastated.  A young American conservative hero (and a Christian to boot) had been shot – to say nothing of a husband and father, cruelly taken out of this life.  At the other extreme were people who despised Kirk’s views and who were almost gleeful that he had been ‘eliminated’.

In between these extreme polarities I came across some folk who seemed to be ‘unpolarised’.  It was even suggested (or at least implied) that Kirk had brought this upon himself by expressing views on a whole range of subjects (euthanasia, abortion, evolution, gender etc.) that were at odds with where our western society in general is at today.  That reminded me of some advice someone once tentatively offered me, that as a pastor my job was to unify people and not cause division.  It’s the popular approach of many Christians today.  Don’t rock the boat!  Unity at all costs... even if it’s a bit of a vain hope.  Don’t polarise the community!  Does God not require love to be the overarching attitude?  Others might even want to remind us that we who call ourselves Christians are called to be peacemakers.

There is much that is commendable about this.  Certainly within the Christian community we are called by Paul, in Ephesians 4, to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace”.  This would seem to be a strong hint that within the Christian church polarisation is never a good thing.

But we are at risk of forgetting other Biblical perspectives.  For starters, it’s worth remembering that it is God who introduced polarisation into our world.  At the fall of man in Paradise God said to the serpent (to Satan): ”I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring.”  Did you notice God’s role in the polarisation?  He put the enmity in place.  Ever since that time history has become the story of war between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.  It’s not surprising therefore that Jesus said on one occasion, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Mat.10:34).  Talk about polarisation!  And then there’s that gospel-centred polarisation that Paul talks about in 2Corinthians 2:15, “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.”

That means that in certain situations, trying to avoid polarisation is like trying to sit on the fence rather than taking the side of the Kingdom of Christ our Lord.  Polarisation is unavoidable in a fallen world.  The challenge for us as Christians is to be engaged in a polarised world with all the love and compassion of Jesus – even for our enemies.  And then let’s not forget that the ultimate polarisation will happen on Judgment Day.  Some will be sent into everlasting bliss in the presence of our Lord; others will be sent into eternal condemnation, away from the presence of the Lord.  Polarisation is unavoidable – let’s just make sure we’re on the Lord’s side of the divide.

John Westendorp
2MaxFM 28th September 2025 


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