Politics in the Pulpit

Now that the election is over and passions have cooled a bit, I thought I’d offer my perspective. Members and regular attenders of the church I pastor will know that I have never endorsed a candidate running for any office. That includes local, state, and national elections. I keep my own political views and party affiliation out of the pulpit. That is by design. No, I’m not concerned about IRS pulling our non-profit status. However, I do have two significant reasons for keeping politics out of the pulpit.

The first reason is that party affiliation should never be a litmus test for Christians in general and church membership at PCC. It’s a fact; there are passionate Democrats, passionate Republicans, and probably a few Libertarians that worship together every Sunday at PCC. And yes, I’m proud of that fact. Politics is complicated. There are many issues at stake and Christians can legitimately hold differing views on most of the issues. Take taxes for example. Should Christians support higher taxes on the wealthy to provide more government assistance for the poor? I’m certain all would agree that the answer is yes. But what percentage is appropriate? And does higher taxes on the wealthy mean fewer jobs for everyone, including the poor? More importantly for Christians, what does the Bible say? It actually says quite a lot about caring for the poor, but not much at all about taxes. There is no question that Christians should be leading the way in caring for the poor. On the other hand, the only thing Jesus said about taxes was, “Render unto Caesar…” In other words, “Pay what you must pay to the governing authorities.” I don’t think there is a “Christian” or “biblical” view of taxes. Authentic believers in Christ will always have differing views. The same is true of so many other issues… national defense, economic policies, education, health care, etc. No one is for a bad national defense or a bad economy. No one is against education or health care, but there are differing views in how to approach these and many other issues.

We are blessed to live in a free nation where these issues can be discussed openly without fear of reprisal from the party in power. Christians can and should participate in the discussion, but without rancor or bitterness or hatred for those who disagree. Christians must lead the way in being gracious and refusing to return evil for evil in the discussion. What we share in common, Christ our Lord, far supersedes our political affiliations and differences. We are not called to convert others to our political party, but to Christ and his kingdom. I’m for civility in the public square, even if that civility is not returned.

The second reason I take great pains to keep politics out of the pulpit is that I want us to always remember that Christ is our Lord and Savior, not any politician, government, party, or nation. I always cringe when I hear some politician say, “America is the hope of the world!” No it’s not. It never has been, nor will it ever be. Jesus Christ is the hope of the world and the Church as the “body of Christ” carries his banner throughout the world, not America. Of course, God is fully able to work through people in government and through various governments including our own. We must never allow patriotism to become an idol. We must never love the “one nation under God” more than God. We must never place our faith in our government leaders or our military leaders for that which only God can provide… true peace and security and hope. We must always think of ourselves as Christians first and U.S. citizens second. Our first priority as Christians is to pray for this nation and our leaders, whether we voted for them or not. We do have a biblical mandate for that: “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2) (NIV)

After all, the proverb does say, “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” (Proverbs 21:1) (NIV)