October 7th was supposedly Pulpit Freedom Sunday. As some of you may or may not know, because churches are tax exempt, we are not supposed to formally endorse political parties or candidates.
One issue here is whether or not the government should be allowed to have any control or censor what pastors can preach. And while I agree that government should not have a role in defining what a church or pastor can and cannot say, I believe that those pastors who participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday were unwise. That’s putting my opinion mildly.
Among those who participated were Wayne Grudem, a well known evangelical theologian. He claims that there is too much at stake and lists several issues.
And to be clear, Pulpit Freedom Sunday isn’t only about addressing issues that are important to Christians; It is about recommending / endorsing a particular party and/or presidential candidate.
I find this to be misguided and disappointing.
I don’t have a problem with any individual having passionate convictions about politics, but the gathered activities of the church are no place for recommending candidates.
Why not? I have a few reasons.
1. We don’t preach opinions. God has not called me to proclaim my own opinions. I’m called to open the Word and preach Jesus.
2. Your congregation probably includes both Republicans and Democrats. Why alienate of portion of them from possibly hearing what you have to say about why you are really there.
3. Americans often put too much hope in politicians to solve our deepest problems. It hasn’t happened yet and it ain’t gonna folks.
4. “My Kingdom is not of this world” – Jesus.
5. While there are issues involved in public policy that are impacted by a Christian’s deep convictions (i.e. abortion), much of politics are not clearly addressed by biblical truth and are open to disagreements by Christians.
What do you think?
How would you have responded if your pastor recommended a particular candidate from the pulpit on Sunday October 7th?
Going Deeper 
One doesn’t have to look at two different church members to get contradictory opinions. I just look within myself. I am more like a Democrat on issues like foreign affairs (I am a dove rather than hawk, for example) and safety net (Medicaid is a good thing); more like a Republican on “values” issues like abortion (no physician should be denied medical payments if he refused to perform abortions) and gay parenting (the Catholic Church should be allowed to decide not to place children in gay-parenting families in Massachusetts) and issues about the size of government (it should be smaller rather than larger).
Unfortunately, presidents and congress too often do not follow their own party’s views. Which is why I ultimately try to find the honest candidate regardless of party. “Honest politician” is an oxymoron.
“I just look within myself” Love it!
Joe and I were talking about this the other night. I wince when a pastor speaks poorly about a sitting president (or really anyone for that matter) from the pulpit. My home pastor used to publicly endorse people all the time but at the time I was being brainwashed so I thought it was fine. Now, I completely agree, Scripture doesn’t talk about immigration, capitalism, foreign policy, or really Christian involvement in government at all. The Bible does not say anything of how a government should or should not operate period. Pretty mind blowing to some people. The Bible is written to Christians and how they are to live in the world – citizens of another Kingdom. Someone posed an interesting discussion question recently on FB asking if you believed that we need to be praying for the spiritual healing of the United States. I don’t think so. You would be hard pressed to see God addressing a nation (with the exception of Israel which is a whole different conversation) in the entirety of the NT. He speaks to individual Christians and churches – I can’t find anywhere where he calls a nation to repentance in the New Testament. Jesus Christ did not die on the cross to save the United States of America he died on the cross so that your and my debt might be paid.
Some people do make connections between the U.S. and Israel without thinking them through. I think Christian conviction can possibly give us something to say about some of the issues, but it’s not usually crystal clear and as you rightly mention, not what the Bible is about.
In my view, the real core differences between the parties, i.e. the role and extent of government, whether decisions should be made on a federal or state level, etc. are theologically neutral. People may have good reasons for wanting either, but I don’t think one is right and the other wrong, objectively.
I don’t think a pastor should endorse a particular party or candidate. However, I think it is definitely wrong for the government to define what a pastor does or does not say in church. I do think that pastors should address relevant issues, and preach the bible’s standpoint on those issues. A pastor saying “a man should not marry another man” is just speaking from the bible. The pastor did not say anything about which political party/candidate supports that view. The congregation should be responsible for researching, and knowing which party agrees with their beliefs. I think it is good to have laws that coincide with biblical teachings. One reason is the weaker brother. If something is immoral yet legal, someone is going to have less of a reason to not do it because “everyone else is doing it” or “it’s not illegal.” I think it’s a good thing to have laws convey the christian values that come from a biblical view.
Separation of church and state has never really worked. I think that the whole reason homosexual marriage is an issue is a breakdown of separation of church and state a long time ago. Marriage should not be within the legal system. Marriage is a covenant of a christian relationship between a man and a woman and god. Therefore, I don’t see any reason non-christians would want to be married- heterosexual and homosexual alike. However, a lot of the reason homosexuals are fighting for marriage rights probably stems from the financial benefits of a union, or from their feelings that they are being repressed by not being able to show their love through marriage.
Anyways, Pastors should preach biblical truths, and let the congregation decide from there.
I like your last sentence.
Definitely should not be any laws prohibiting pastors to preach on the bible’s view of today’s issues, as long as they are not relating them to politics.