076: Civil Discourse and the Believer with Chelsea Andrews

What we Chat about in This Episode: ~The problem with an "us vs. them" mentality ~What civil discourse is, and how Chelsea became passionate about it ~Being able to contain, monitor, and be self-aware of your emotions while in discussions of disagreements with others ~The vicious cycle of conflict - basing your identiity in your beliefs, being attacked and then becoming self-absorbed, going into feeling defensive, and reacting in anger ~Tips for practicing and engaging civil discourse ~How Chelsea puts the steps of civil discourse into action on social media, both Instagram and Facebook ~The power of asking clarifying questions ~Areas where the church, specifically, is not doing a good job of practicing civil discourse; the things we should do (and not do!) instead ~What Chelsea has learned as a result of being in friendships with people who are very different from her and members of the Jewish, liberal, progressive, or LGBTQ communities; how those friendships began and how she keeps them strong ~Not viewing people as projects; letting go and letting God work in others ~Answering the belief that, because we are to be in the world and not of the world and bad company corrupts good morals, we can't and shouldn't be friends with them  ~The issue of anti-normalization and how we as believers need to let go of our involvement of it ~The importance of guarding someone's emotions and approaching the conversation with humility when attempting to engage in civil discourse ~How this practice has changed Chelsea, personally  ~The place social media plays in the civil discourse discussions of the day ~And more! For full shownotes, head to www.hargraveshomeandhearth.com/podcast