It's an election year and Facebook is full of less than informed, less than irenic political conversation. From time to time, this conversation is inspired by some of my clergy colleagues, and I feel compelled to weigh in on the subject.
I certainly have political opinions, myself. I came from a political family and my grandfather worked in three presidential campaigns as a speechwriter. I follow a couple dozen news organizations on Twitter. And yet, very few people know my political views. Those who know me know that my silence is due neither to a lack of courage about speaking my mind nor a lack of opinion. I'm a very opinionated person.
Still, I realize that as a pastor I am a public person and that I have given my life over to serve a very special purpose. That means that in order to fulfill my calling, I must set aside certain things that are my right as a citizen. I have given up many things to be a pastor, but I have received much more in return. Whenever we try to hold on to one thing while we grasp the other, we are in danger of losing both.
Pastors certainly ought to weigh in on political issues when they touch issues related to the Gospel directly. the silence of many white clergy during the Civil Rights movement is a black stain on the history of the church in America, for example.
But personality attacks on candidates of any party are unfruitful and unhelpful when they come from a pastor. Name calling and sloganism does nothing to help the coming of the Kingdom of God.
Worse, pastors often fail to realize that they have congregants of every political persuasion among their people. When they engage in partisans political debate, they necessarily alienate those with whom they disagree politically.
Pastors' words are more powerful than they often realize. We are charged with speaking the words of God and proclaiming the Word of God. We cheapen our prophetic voice when we use our voice to advocate for the most base of earthly pursuits. We certainly lose the capability to be messengers of the truth when we use half-truths to condemn people of another party. Pastors must not be in the business of calling the President a Muslim or calling Governor Romney a crook, no matter what we might think privately. The way we talk about such issues ought to call our national conversation to a higher standard.
Pastors: Is the Gospel not offensive enough without adding the offense of converting to a political viewpoint on top of converting to the man who called us to take up a cross in order to follow him?
"But personality attacks on candidates of any party are unfruitful and unhelpful when they come from a pastor. Name calling and sloganism does nothing to help the coming of the Kingdom of God." I would add that those of us who are NOT pastors would do well to remember these things, too.
ReplyDeleteAnd amen.
Amen. I've often said that the gift of the community of faith to the cultural conversation must be the ability to share differing opinions among people who love each other and are more committed to each other than their opinions.
ReplyDeleteThere are two political hot potatoes that pastors should speak to in a prophetic way. The first is the tragedy of abortion. 900 babies are aborted every day in America by Planned Parenthood. In Mobile, AL, we lose fifty to sixty babies a week. To fail to speak out against this atrocity is as sinful as our silence over civil rights issues in the sixties. The second hot topic is the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples. Whereas we are called to show compassion to all people and Jesus died for all, there is absolutely no excuse for discarding the biblical covenant of marriage between one man and one woman. There are many, many other concerns but if we do not speak the truth in love on these two, we will fail the American people, and worse than that, the God we serve.
ReplyDeleteAmen, Nathan.
ReplyDeleteEach of us, not just pastors, should remember to pray for God's leadership as we make our choices for candidates. If we truly believe in prayer, God will change our hearts and the hearts of the elected officials. It helps no one when we call names. Thank you for realizing that our congregation has varying opinions. I choose not to voice my opinion concerning either political candidate. There is a lot of propaganda out there and many jump on the band wagon with little thought to the validity of information.
ReplyDeleteBrad: Why these two? The Biblical prophets spoke out against the abuse of the poor by the rich more than any other topic, and yet most evangelicals are strangely silent on this subject that was central to the teaching of Jesus and has been central to the social teaching of Christians always. Focusing on these two issues, in which the Republican platform and Evangelical leanings concur, is a prime example of how partisanship has made Christians sell their soul to one party or another (liberal Christians are just as guilty as the fundamentalist Republicans in this way) and become blind to God's view of issues when they are contrary to the political party to which they have primary allegiance.
ReplyDeleteI was going to ask Brad the same thing. I was also going to list divorce, greed, and a few other things.
ReplyDeleteNice post, Nathan.
Susan Hunt