Tribalism

Tribes can bind us together, but they can also blind us to the beauty of the Gospel. Judges 12 illustrates what happens when the normal human desire to belong warps into sinful self-protection and other-harming tribalism. We use “shibboleths” to actively or passively exclude people from our circle of trust. In today’s polarized climate, tribalism also cuts us off from learning ways that we may be wrong and ways others might be right. Jesus, it turns out, was also a repeated victim of tribalist judgments, but he refused to judge people through a tribalist lens. Christians who have been forgiven of their tribalism have the privilege of reflecting his love by rejecting shibboleths, asking questions and defining terms. Ultimately, anti-tribalist believers reflect more of the beauty of Jesus’ Gospel.