All Drop The Stone asks is for Christians to act a little more like Jesus during this 2024 Presidential election season. He offered the woman caught in adultery kindness rather than condemnation, inviting any of her accusers who’d never sinned to throw the first stone. One by one, they walked away, dropping their stones. Yet, Christians today too often pick up stones to throw back at their accusers on social media.

The divisiveness around this election is unprecedented, within and outside the Church. Many “influencers” are writing books and speaking out about the need for Christians to respond with Agape (unconditional love), not anger, to those across the political aisle. Drop The Stone is the first to put “hands and feet” to their message, performing acts of kindness for those with different worldviews – and challenging friends to follow their lead. The alternative is for Christians to duplicate the aggressive posture that backfired in 2016 and 2020 – and further damage our credibility in 2024.
7 Arguments Against Drop The Stone

However, not everyone is on board with the idea that confession, love, and compassion are the best courses of action to stem the division in America and lead our nation back toward Jesus. We’ve heard these concerns, questions, and objections…

Doesn’t Drop The Stone acquiesce to society’s characterization of expressions of Christian perspectives as intolerant, unsolicited impositions of competing values?

The definition of tolerance is a “willingness to tolerate…the existence of opinions…that one does not necessarily agree with”. America has redefined “intolerance” to classify articulation of Christian values as an ad hominem attack on an individual’s beliefs and carefully-considered views on spiritual matters. Christians who expect tolerance must exhibit tolerance, but social media posts are filled with personal insults and accusations in both directions, lashing out while hiding behind the safety of a computer screen.

Drop The Stone treats those with whom we disagree with dignity, listening to understand rather than just be understood. We can honor non-believers without affirming their worldviews, indicting their character, or bursting their identity bubbles. Drop The Stone builds bridges, creates a safe space for discourse, and forms relationships necessary for ongoing discipleship. Drop The Stone asks Christians to pray (because only God can save), care (to demonstrate His love), and share (about redemption through Christ). We’re not calling for Christians to compromise or condone, but to not condemn.

Is Drop The Stone a concession that separation of church and state is the law of the land, enabling progressives to label any reference to politicians, parties, or policies as Christian Nationalism?

While secular culture feeds American a steady diet of post-Christian propaganda, it concurrently devises several strategies to silence Christian voices. By denying the depravity of human nature, the fundamental assumption underlying Christianity, society attempts to obviate the need for Jesus. It defines as “hate speak” any mention of the Gospel (because it’s inherently offensive), sin (because it doesn’t exist), “truth” (because it’s subjective), politics (because it’s Christian Nationalism), or Hell (because it’s a scare tactic). Employees fear publicly professing faith or biblical viewpoints will cost them jobs. Pastors fear preaching on morality will drive away members. Influencers fear violation of socially acceptable speech parameters will result in “cancellation”.

Drop The Stone offers Agape as the solution to cancel culture. When we respond to vitriol with unconditional love for those who hate us, washing their proverbial feet, we disarm and disprove cries of Christian Nationalism. Whatever meaning the term initially had has been distorted by overuse and misapplication as a weapon. Drop The Stone may help eliminate that label from America’s vernacular.

How can Christians not speak up on issues where the lives of defenseless children made in God’s image are at stake?

We can’t stand idly by as children are misled, maimed, and killed by atheists who know the path to power and wealth lies in wrestling control of the thoughts and lives of the next generation away from parents and pastors. The question is what can we do to stop this madness? Christians have been extremely vocal over the past decade about social and moral issues, to little avail. The louder we yell the faster America’s decline accelerates. If we must do something, what would be more effective? It’s irrational to expect people to follow God’s laws when they don’t believe in the Lawgiver. Our starting point must be opening ears to hear what we have to say. No one cares what we know unless they know we care.

Jesus expressed righteous anger, but people still listened to Him because they saw his love, grace, and mercy. Surveys show secular society doesn’t recognize those characteristics in most Christians. Our anger on behalf of the powerless does not appear to be righteous because we’re not leading with compassion like Jesus did. Drop The Stone doesn’t advocate withholding truth, but simultaneously embodying truth – a ground campaign of kindness, not just an air assault of verbal bombs.

Does Drop The Stone in any way encourage Christians to abstain from voting for President or other political offices in the 2024 elections?

Drop The Stone was called Cast An Eternal Vote in 2016 and 2020. The brand change was in part due to concerns about leading Christians to believe the only “votes” that mattered were those enduring longer than four years and able to be cast more than once. We also recognize how sensitive the topic of voting rights has become and how many feel disenfranchised in the voting process.

Drop The Stone’s mission is inherently apolitical. While it is run by Christian ministries, we do not explicitly endorse any party or politician. Drop The Stone strongly advises Christians to vote in the 2024 elections to make their voices heard but believes eternal votes speak louder than temporal ones. We have tremendous impact when we reflect the character of Christ to a watching world. Jesus was countercultural without being counter culture, modeling how to drop our stone.

Shouldn’t Christ-followers be able to defend themselves against the onslaught instigated by those seeking the eradication of Christianity from our culture? If so, then why isn’t Drop The Stone directed at those on offense, not on defense?

In large part due to the mistake of fighting fire with fire during the 2016 and 2020 Presidential election cycles, leadership of the 7 Mountains like government, business, media, entertainment, and education has become increasingly anti-Christian. Throughout America’s history, Christ-followers had significant influence and imposed “God’s will” at the ballot box, school board meetings, and airwaves. That tide has now turned. Non-believers resent and vilify Christians for the power they wielded, particularly under recent church-friendly administrations.

Christians are losing heart and patience with a society not only abandoning but attacking Christian values. Some wonder how Drop The Stone could do any good without confronting the source of the problem – antagonizers now throwing the larger stones. Yes, Drop The Stone recognizes non-believers have a conscience and are responsible for their actions. However, our task is not to judge but to love “enemies”, looking beyond their external actions, appearance, and words. They’re eternal souls in dire need of a Savior so we feel love and not anger toward them.

Why don’t Christians worry about themselves, first addressing the division so prevalent within the body of Christ, and stop throwing stones at stained glass?

During Meet The Need 20+ years working with thousands of churches across the country we’ve witnessed less willingness to pray, care and share collaboratively. Differences in theology, COVID-19, politics, gender ideology, gay marriage, diversity, and a host of other issues divide us – even within denominations. Jesus said it’s our unity, with one another not against the world, that will draw all people to Him. Yet Christians today are generally known for what we’re against, not Who we’re for. We’re not called to unite in agreement, but despite our differences.

Division within the Church is a result of prevailing church growth models based on business principles defining members as self-interested “customers”. Expectations flipped whereby responsibilities of churchgoers to pursue the biblical “customer” (those who don’t know Jesus) have been abdicated, usurped by pastors expected to perform to attract and retain congregants. Therefore, most Christians no longer unite around a shared mission, but church hop and shop for the best experience and alignment with their particular perspectives. Drop The Stone properly (re)positions Christians as Kingdom employees united in demonstrating Agape to those across the political aisle outside the four walls of a church building.

Doesn’t posting stories about our acts of kindness violate Matthew 6:2-4 where Jesus teaches, “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”? 

Scripture says Christians should not brag about their “good works”, but the objective of stories shared through Drop The Stone is confession, not conceit. In other words, each social media post is an admission of prior judgmentalism and a resolve to #DropMyStone from here forward (and challenging others to do likewise). Kindness beats anger whether we tell anyone about it or not, but all confessions (through caring) offered by Drop The Stone participants should convey humility.

In that same sermon, in Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” That verse has been Meet The Need’s tag line since its inception 23 years ago. We believe Drop The Stone abides by the letter and spirit of Mathew 5:16 and 6:2-4.
It’s Your Turn…

After reading those 7 arguments, do you believe Christians are on the right track, should be more vocal during the 2024 Presidential election season, or need to Drop The Stone? If you think Drop The Stone is the best course of action, then consider supporting the movement and replace your next terse retort on social media with a post about an act of kindness for someone who doesn’t share your political views.