As an Australian, I have little skin in the game as the American election season kicks off. I watch from the outside as every corner of the internet becomes ablaze with partisan fighting. My country has its own political divisions and controversies, but America’s dominance in the world means our spot fires are nothing compared to the firestorm of U.S. election coverage.

Of all the words I’d use to describe how politics—on either side of the Pacific—is typically talked about on the news and social media, “reasonably” is hardly the first one I’d choose. It might be the last. We’re more likely to see vitriol, slander, and sensationalism this year, all fueled by pervasive anxiety. Even among Christians.

But as Steve Bateman writes in his new article, “Political anxiety in the church declines in response to the rise of reasonableness.” Perhaps it’s just what we need.

Using insight from Philippians, Bateman guides believers away from anxiety and into the reasonableness that ought to come from faith in our sovereign Lord. If we pursue this virtue, the flames of political infernos can be quenched by firm trust, obedience, truth seeking, and prayer. After all, as Bateman writes, “The peaceful lives we rightly desire will come about only by the power of a gracious God.” Not by getting the election result we want.

What difference would reasonableness make to how you, and the people in your church, approach this election season? How might you be a beacon of peace to your unbelieving neighbors, without withdrawing from politics or giving up your convictions? Bateman’s article and the glorious truths he mines from Philippians are a good place to start.