Pastors and politics

I did not watch the Democrat convention last week, and I am not watching the Republican convention this week. It's not because I don't care for politics or have strong political beliefs. It's because of the divisiveness of the two parties. I know what each is going to claim at their conventions so why bother watching them? While I will vote in the upcoming election, neither candidate is especially appealing to me. It bothers me a great deal that this nation cannot produce better candidates than what we've had the past few elections.

As a minister for the past 40 years I have tried very hard to stay out of partisan politics. Several years ago my Dad ran for a local office and asked to put a campaign sign in my yard. I refused. I explained to him that I would support him and vote for him, but as a pastor I would not endorse a candidate for either party. He was not happy with me at the time, but a few years later I think he understood why I took the stand I did.

After I resigned my pastorate the church called an interim who took a very strong political stand for one political party. My father had spent his life voting for and working for the other party. A few months into that interim period Dad called me shortly after lunch one Sunday. He explained that during the sermon he got up and walked out of the church. He had listened to that minister extol the current president and rail against the other party for as long as he could take. Dad said he sat in his car in the parking lot shaking so bad he couldn't drive away for several minutes. He said he went to church to hear about God, not for the minister to promote his political views. Dad never returned to that church but began attending another church more interested in preaching the gospel than it was in promoting partisan politics.

I think about Dad's experience often when I read some of the posts by pastors, Christian authors and other Christian leaders. Some of these people I once held in high esteem, but I have to admit that has been lessened by their political posts. Some are strong Trump haters, and their posts on social media reflect that hatred. Others are strongly critical of Democrats and speak very ugly about them and their leadership. While it is one thing to address policies it is another thing to attack personalities, especially with the venom I often read. During the last election I had to unfriend some people because of the ugliness of their political posts. As this election draws closer I fear I will have to do the same this time. 

We need to remember that half of our congregations will hold to similar political views we have while the other half will support the views of the opposing party. As pastors we must address moral and ethical issues, but we do that without dragging in our political views. 

Should Christians be involved in politics? Absolutely! I would love to see more Christians run for political office and pastors to speak to the moral issues that affect our nation. I have not failed to vote in any election since becoming eligible to vote, and this year I will vote for the candidates I believe best reflect my values and beliefs. At the same time, I do not believe that Christian leaders, such as pastors, should engage in partisan politics. My fear is that the more we talk about politics the more we dilute the Gospel message we are called to proclaim. And we cause people like my Dad to be unable to hear the Gospel for the campaign slogans we are proclaiming from our pulpits and our social media sites.