Americans have set an unfortunate new record: the number of voters who have negative opinions of both major candidates for the presidency has reached an all-time high. As shown below, fully a quarter of Americans view both Biden and Trump unfavorably. My guess is that this number may have ticked up after June 27 debate.

At the same time, there seems to be little interest among Americans to look outside the Democratic and Republican parties for a presidential candidate. Historically, this has been the case. Over the past several election cycles, even when large numbers of Americans were not enthusiastic about the major party candidates, they still proved to be unwilling to vote for a third party candidate.

Why is this? Part of it is undoubtedly a matter of money and influence. The two major parties are effective gatekeepers of who has access to the campaign finances and media exposure that a candidate needs to be visible to voters.

Another reason is the desire to remain consistent with previous commitments. Robert Cialdini, an emeritus professor at Arizona State University and psychologist who is widely regarded as the expert on persuasion, has argued that remaining consistent with our previous decisions is one of the most potent factors in determining what we will decide in the future.

This means that if we have supported a particular party or a particular candidate in the past, we have to overcome a predisposition to support that same party or candidate in order to vote differently in the next election. What makes it even more difficult to overcome this tendency toward consistency is that we are not just making a small choice, like picking a different brand of cereal or peanut butter than the one we usually get. We are choosing something that requires us to reflect on the stories we tell about what the United States is and who Americans are. These stories reflect our core values, and it is no small thing to espouse a new set of values publicly. It is even harder because the values held by the two major parties emphasize different aspects of life as important.

To move people from one story and set of values to another requires nothing short of a conversion. However, that conversion does not need to involve a massive break with one story to adopt the other. What we often lose in these conversations is the power of nuance. So often, our tendency is to look at the extremes and to ignore that there is overlap. We may emphasize different values, but that does not mean that one group rejects values that the other accepts. The call is to show that we can honor our values even as we change our minds about who we support politically.

To shift the focus from politics to evangelism, a similar point can be made. A call to conversion to the Christian faith often is seen as a call to a complete break with everything that a person believed and valued in the past. To be certain, there likely are some changes that have to occur. That is part of what repentance entails. However, no one is called to repent from their values that are already good, true, and beautiful. Consider how Jesus honored the earnestness and moral uprightness of the rich, young ruler while still calling him to repent of the value that still held him back from eternal life. When Christians evangelize, we would do well to extol the good that we already see and welcome that even as we invite repentance to overcome the sinful values.