One of the most common criticisms of the church, is that it is too political! I have quite a mix of thoughts and feelings about this statement. I cringe at this statement being made about the church, because there are some things about politics that I absolutely despise: such as the blatant dishonesty and the incredible level of self-serving statements and actions that characterizes most politicians.
I have heard some preachers state that politics will not change the world. That our world will only be changed through devoted Christ-followers being changed by the truth of God's word and then bringing that change into our communities one life at a time. I couldn't agree more with this statement, but I am concerned with the excesses of this philosophy.
The excesses include timid preachers who are reluctant to say anything remotely "political" from the pulpit. They have been duped into thinking that they are not allowed to speak on such issues and that they might "offend" people or be punished by the government. Another excess is "Christians" who feel like it is pointless to get involved in politics at all. They refuse to vote or even have an opinion on "political" issues, because "Jesus wasn't a politician."
Let's look at the excess that all preachers should be nonpolitical. Was Jesus political? Yes and No! He never positioned himself to try to take a political leadership role, but yet he chose a political revolutionary in Simon the zealot to be one of his 12 apostles. He had withering diatribes directed at the Pharisees who we often view as religious leaders but who were political leaders as well. John the Baptist had his head chopped off because he was willing to publicly criticize King Herod. Saying that preachers should not make political statements has no biblical precedent.
This statement has no historical precedent as well. Our founding fathers received most of their inspiration for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution from biblical principles that were expounded upon by their pastors. These preachers spoke freely against the injustices of government from their pulpits.
In one sense I feel like the church is not political enough. Should the church be concerned about issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage? Absolutely! Should Christ followers blindly follow a political party? Absolutely not! Should Christ followers speak out against an immoral and corrupt government? Absolutely! Should Christ followers allow politics to create division between us? Absolutely not!
I believe that Christ followers should have more conversations about political matters. I think Christ followers should become more informed of our distinctly Christian foundation as a nation. The more I discover about our Christian heritage as a nation the more inspired I become! I challenge you to check out this website www.wallbuilders.com Our nation has thrived for 236 years like no other country before because of our Biblical foundation! The only way we will continue to thrive is if we return to this biblical foundation!
I don't think the problem is "not being political" it's the level of polarization. It's the fact that in order to have one political opinion, it requires you to sign up to a whole realm of them that may or may not be Biblical. A good test of righteous indignation is the absence of self. Many Christians claim to be pro life, but then resent having to "pay other people's medical bills" because it's not "fair". Well...news flash...GRACE is not fair :) Perhaps it's hard to "be political" in a country that demands you take sides in such a way..why can't you be pro life but also pro socialism? You simply can't in America..and many Christians have found themselves unable to reconcile this.
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up a good point, which I was referring to when I said not to blindly follow a political party. I agree with your premise. For instance, I think socialism is great if it is voluntary like it was in the book of Acts, not government mandated. I also believe that the Bible demands that we as a society have a responsibility to care for the poor, but I think that should be church-driven and the government assist them not vice-versa which seems to be our current set up.
DeleteTHANK YOU FOR SPEAKING/BLOGGING UP!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with everything you said on this blog except for the promotion of David Barton. He has been dishonest in a lot of things that were said. A lot of our founding fathers were Masons and our documents were taken from Masonic philosophy which included some Biblical concepts as well. Ben Franklin was part of the Hellfire Club. Washington was a devout Mason. Jefferson was a deist free thinker that rewrote the Bible and took out the miracles. John Adams was a Unitarian. All of these people gave lip service to Christianity because a majority of the people of the day identified with Christian culture. David Barton claims that our founding fathers denied the theory of evolution. That would be impossible because Charles Darwin wasn't even born at that time.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your statements are a product of our public education system. Lets look at the facts we have over 200 men who are identified as "Founding Fathers" 95 % of them were Christians. What you are doing is focusing on the 5% of the least religious. And what you are stating isn't accurate. Let's look at Thomas Jefferson the "deist free thinker that rewrote the Bible and took out the miracles." This supposed "Jefferson Bible" was entitled "The life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth" Jefferson simply reprinted all of the "red letters" of Jesus in one book. He said that he printed it as an evangelistic tool to the Indians. He said that if they were to simply read the words of Jesus it would change their lives. Thomas Jefferson was the founding president of the Virginia Bible Society. George Washington was a devout Christian. His daughter said you might as well doubt his patriotism as to doubt his Christianity. Wayne you can believe that the Founding Fathers were a bunch of godless atheists if want but the facts simply don't back you up.
Delete“The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. Now I will avow that I then believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence attributes of God.” John Adams
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