Posted September 25, 2026
If you’ve ever stared at your ballot on election day and come away thinking, “None of these people represent me,” you’re not alone. It turns out that more than three-quarters of Americans do not fit neatly under either the conservative or the liberal label. As a recent study from Searchlight found, “Only 14 percent of the electorate can be classified as completely ideologically conservative and 10 percent as ideologically liberal.”
They’re quick to add, “This doesn’t mean the rest of the electorate doesn’t care about the issues. Quite the opposite. It’s just that the vast majority of voters hold a heterodox collection of beliefs that range across the ideological spectrum.”
Most of those who run for office, though, fit far more neatly into one of those two ideological poles. And the same is often true for the most vocal parts of their base. As a result, it’s easy for the national discussion to paint a much more homogeneous picture of the nation than reality represents.
I bring this up today not in an attempt to fix the American political system. After all, we’re a non-partisan ministry and, even if we weren’t, that’s an infinitely bigger job than we could tackle in this space. Rather, I wanted to discuss this topic because what’s true of Americans politically is also true of many Americans in other parts of our lives. And there are valuable lessons to be gleaned from understanding the nature of that complexity that can help us live a life God can bless while also enhancing our ability to share the good news of the gospel with those who desperately need to hear it.
One of the ways overlooking the complexity behind most Americans’ political views can prove most damaging is when it leads us to think that if you disagree with one position, then you must agree with its opposite. Very rarely are issues that binary, though. Most of the subjects that divide Americans are complicated for a reason, and oversimplifying them in the search for an easy answer often leads us further from the truth.
Far too often, we make that same mistake in questions of theology and other areas of life as well. To some extent, that’s just how we’re wired. Putting questions into either/or boxes can help us make sense of complicated issues. That’s not how life works, though, and the truth is rarely that simple.
Granted, on some of the most important subjects, it is. For example, Jesus is either God or he’s not. He either died for our sins or he didn’t. Salvation is something we can earn or it’s a free gift of faith.
But if we’re not careful, clarity about the essentials can easily lead us to think that other issues should be just as simple. That’s not always how it works, though. Many of the most common heresies that have plagued the church across the centuries stem from the desire to oversimplify a question that doesn’t have an easy answer.
Questions about baptism, eschatology, and a host of others that have divided the church are areas where it’s alright to disagree on the details. Yet, when we lose sight of the complexity of these topics, it gets easy to elevate agreement to a level of necessity that is simply not what God intended.
As a general rule, if Christians have been fighting about it for the better part of 2,000 years, then we probably shouldn’t be surprised when a simple answer continues to elude us.
And if you’ve settled on a simple answer to these complex questions, is it because you’ve tested that answer against the truth of Scripture and genuinely engaged with the opposing views? Or did the solution sound good and you stopped your search out of fear that different perspectives might sway you from the one you’d prefer?
I ask that without any sense of judgment—I have to pose those same questions to myself quite frequently. But it can be easy for a sense of certainty to fill us with far more confidence than is warranted. And, when that happens, it can quickly lead to division in our communities of faith that mirrors the political division we see across the country.
The second lesson we should take from this research is related to the first. Because many of the issues that divide us lack easy answers, we shouldn’t be surprised when people disagree with us.
When reading Searchlight’s findings, particularly regarding some of the ways Americans hold heterodox views, I was surprised by how often I found my own views to be in the minority among those surveyed. Looking back on it now, I shouldn’t have been, but it was a good reminder that just because you’ve thought deeply about an issue—and even prayed about it—does not necessarily mean that’s the only logical way to approach it.
Now, being in the minority doesn’t mean you’re wrong either. The truth doesn’t care about the majority’s opinions, and there are a number of issues where the culture finds itself on the opposite side from God’s word. In those moments, we’re right to side with Scripture.
However, if we are so certain we’re right that we can’t be bothered to try and understand where the other side is coming from, then we’re not going to change many hearts or minds. And that’s particularly true given that, as these studies show, there’s usually not just one other side.
On the important stuff, particularly when it comes to matters of salvation, being right is not enough if it manifests in a way that makes others feel foolish or diminished for being wrong. God has given us the incredible honor of partnering with him to help others understand and experience the beauty of the gospel. But if we’re surprised or offended when they disagree with us, we’re far less likely to live out that calling well.
So, take the time to genuinely listen and, particularly on issues where the Bible is not clear, be open to the possibility that some aspect of your thinking may be flawed and in need of correction. Humans are complicated creatures, and this side of heaven, none of us will get everything right.
God designed us that way for a reason. Our finitude is meant to foster a level of curiosity and humility that should make it easier to depend on him and relate to other people. But that will only happen if we see it as an opportunity to learn rather than as a weakness to mask behind the veneer of overconfidence and false certainty.
So, which approach will you choose today?
Whether it’s in the realm of politics, theology, sports, or any other area of life that can so easily prove contentious, embrace the fact that most people don’t fit in a box and, as a result, there’s usually something we can learn from them. Will you?
“Christian: The crisis is not that we are politically homeless. The crisis is that we ever thought we could make a home in politics at all.” —Michael Wear
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