There are very few things in life that are genuinely and fundamentally right or wrong. Most humans often want an accurate delineation of moral categories. Good on one side, evil on the other. However, life seldom presents itself in black and white, with clear-cut distinctions between right and wrong. In most situations we encounter, we desperately need discernment, humility, and the willingness to navigate intricacies.
I have found that when I pursue intellectual honesty and peel back the "layers of the onion," there is a relatively small number of matters that are clearly right or clearly wrong. Moral rights and moral wrongs could never be rooted in ideology or human opinion, but in the enduring moral truths in Scripture. These are the absolutes: the value of life, the call to honesty, justice, mercy, faithfulness, and love. When the Word speaks plainly, humanity is obligated to respond plainly. But outside of those core moral imperatives, the territory becomes far less defined.
Politics, in particular, operates in the "land" of the gray. Governing involves competing interests, less-than-perfect information, negotiation, and compromise. It requires weighing every imaginable outcome, doing your best to predict consequences, and trying to govern a diverse and often divided group of people fairly. And, you do that while striving to stay inside the boundaries of the Constitution.
Those who treat politics as a battleground between good and evil often do more harm than good. Example: If said politician refuses to acknowledge complexity, they give up their ability to persuade. If you cannot persuade, you cannot govern; if you cannot govern, your service is worthless. This is where the line between being revolutionary and being a mercenary starts. Political mercenaries quickly realize that they can't accomplish anything and resort to hurling insults at the leadership, attempting to create a coup.
They lose the ability to persuade because they refuse to acknowledge the gray area. When they can't persuade, the default becomes bomb throwing.
Revolutionaries can see the value in the gray; they can build common ground with like-minded leaders even over disagreements. Every effective revolutionary in history was able to form a coalition founded on compromise.
Revolutionaries understand that moral certainty, when applied to things in life that are not moral absolutes, becomes inflexible and rigid. Inflexibility in politics renders a person ineffective and sometimes even destructive.
Thomas Massie is a clear example. He is a principled man, and I appreciate that about him. Yet his unwavering stance on nearly every single issue, regardless of practical outcome, often leaves him isolated and irrelevant in actual governance. By refusing to enter the gray, where trade-offs and negotiation occur, he cannot influence the outcomes meaningfully. The purity of his posture garners admiration from some, but admiration alone does not feed families, repair infrastructure, strengthen national security, or enact reform.
Principles unguided by the close-minded are not a signal of moral might, but of political inflexibility. In the same way, moderates hurt us when they cave too easily to Democrats. These contrarian mindsets refuse to utilize the gray area available for meaningful legislation or positions that would help the GOP win, and harm the conservative movement.
To be clear, the answer is never to abandon your core principles. Public servants should seek to pair principle with humility and discernment. Regardless of where your moral absolutes come from, for me, it is the Bible; you should be able to understand where Scripture or whatever text you subscribe to establishes absolutes and where human judgment must take over.
Politics cannot be the realm of perfection, but it is most certainly the realm of stewardship. If a politician cannot recognize nuance, one cannot lead, and if they insist on treating gray areas as black and white, they risk becoming not a champion of truth, but an obstacle to progress and unity.
Every single member of the U.S. Congress should immediately shift to governing from the center, reopen the people's government, and focus on resolving this issue before the next shutdown occurs. It's all in the gray!
Jeremy Faison is the State Representative for Tennessee's 11th House District and the Chairman of the Tennessee House Republican Caucus.
