One of the most controversial questions in the church today revolves around the topic of politics and the pulpit. Should pastors talk about political issues, politicians and political parties from the pulpit? People have strong feelings on both sides of this issue. Churches have been threatened with the loss of their 501(c) 3 status if they engage in political issues. Various organizations have discussed how far churches can go without running afoul of these rules. Some churches avoid any discussion of political issues while others seem to be highly engaged in helping their preferred candidate be elected.
I'm no expert on the law, and I don't pretend to be. In this blog I can only talk about what I've done and believe. As a pastor I avoided publicly supporting any candidate although in private conversations I would talk about my preferences. When my father was running for a county office several years ago I would not even allow him to put a sign in my yard. I told him I would certainly vote for him and encourage others to do so, but I felt a campaign sign in my yard was something I was not comfortable with as a pastor.
I avoided political issues unless they were moral issues, and many of them are. I never had a problem speaking out against abortion as this is a moral issue, not merely a political one. The same would be true of other moral and justice issues. The church must take a stand on the moral issues of the day regardless of whether they are supported by Democrats or Republicans. I can criticize either party equally when they support things that run counter to scriptural teaching.
A few years after I resigned from the church I served the church was going through another pastoral change. A few months into that transition my father called quite upset. He and his wife had got up during the sermon and walked out. His voice was still shaky when he called me. He could not believe he would ever have done that, but he said he was so tired of hearing the interim pastor condemn the political party he had supported his entire life. No, he didn't agree with everything that party supported, but he said it was also not the evil monstrosity the interim pastor accused it of being every week. He said what I believe many Christians feel: He did not go to church to listen to political speeches but to hear the Word of God.
When Jerry Falwell started the Moral Majority he, and many others, felt that it would bring about a moral revival in America. A lot of money and time was spent trying to influence elections and laws enacted in Congress. While the Moral Majority was welcomed to the political table by one party, it's influence within that party was minimal. Falwell was not a person who easily surrendered, but I think he finally realized that the answer to America's problems was not through the political process. In the late 1980s he returned to focusing his attention to the pastoral work to which he had been called.
The 2020 election cycle has already started. It will be tempting for church leaders and ministers to begin taking sides and supporting their preferred leaders. I just encourage caution. In the 2016 election I found a lot of the political rhetoric coming from Christians, especially on social media, to be very unhelpful to the work the church is called to do. We don't have to talk about individuals or parties. I believe speaking to the moral issues will help people determine who they should support in the upcoming elections.
1 comment:
I make every effort never to besmirch the pulpit with politics. Still, the issue is complex. Politics and morality are intricately intertwined. You refer to abortion as a moral issue, yet one political party wholeheartedly embraces abortion rights--we are hard-pressed to cite any single example of a Washington Democrat who is pro-life.
I'd be hard pressed to find a political issue that is not moral.
Is it moral for my generation to add to the $22 trillion federal deficit to pass to the next generation? Is it moral to enact legislation that adversely impacts inner city or blue collar job opportunities? Is it moral to forgive student debt by adding it to the $22 trillion deficit?
Is it fair to link members of a certain party to their party's agenda? We have elections for state university trustees in my state. These trustees run as the candidate of one of the political parties. One of those parties promotes agendas pertaining to LBGTQ, abortion, and other issues that undermine historic Christian values. These trustees then hire biased university administrators who more often than not hire outspoken advocates of their agenda. Graduates from these schools embrace what is taught in the classroom and bring their agenda into the local schools. Our kids then get inundated with doctrines that conflict with their families and churches. Faithful church members who happen to be teachers suffer in such environments as well. Nearly every political office on the ballot hinges on issues of morality.
Even promoting the validity of the US Constitution and the existence of our country as it was founded are moral issues. Do the Constitution and our Founding Documents reflect a deeply considered theological and moral awareness arising out of competent theological reflection of a Judeo-Christian heritage? I am persuaded they do, and as such, I view the right to bear arms as a moral issue, for example. Free speech is a moral issue. Freedom of religion is a moral issue. Slavery is a moral issue, as is citizen suffrage.
We might note further that it is a moral issue that a nation's leader protect its citizens' interest.
I'm not disagreeing with you Dennis, just pointing out some complexities. I'm not sure what the resolution is.
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