Sadly, pastors and church leaders have been intimidated to the point that few of them will actually speak to the crucial issues of the November 4 election. Of course, fear is the underlying factor in this holy silence. To be sure, a good many ministers are simply afraid to offend their congregants. Most congregations represent both sides of the political aisle and ministers are compelled, by a long list of forces, to straddle the fine lines that separate them.
This was affirmed by a fellow pastor recently. Quoting Proverbs 4:27, "Do not swerve to the right or to the left...", he stood with his feet firmly planted in mid-air under the mandate of Scripture. And, of course, this is a comfortable place to hide, behind Scripture! I mean, here, personal waffling is God's fault, getting us off the hook. Further probing unveiled the real reason for his reticence. The two most prominent men in the church were elected officials from differing political persuasions. Hold it! Did I say prominent men, as in best dressed, biggest, most influential, drives the most expensive car, lives in the nicest part of town? Biggest financial supporter?
This is another of those dysfunction maladies---subjectile dysfunction, a reluctance to tackle certain subjects from the pulpit. And, there are many, many topics that comprise the "don't touch" list here.
In the movie The Patriot, (2000), Rene Auberjonois played the part of Reverend Oliver the local parson. When the little village recruited a militia to fight the Redcoats, Reverend Oliver took off his clerical collar, took up his musket, and mounted to join the fight. One of his congregants asked, "Reverend?", meaning, "where are you going". He said something like this: "The Shepherd has to protect his sheep, and sometimes that means running off some wolves."
History affirms the voice of God's leaders in stressful political times. The prophets spoke boldly to the spiritual and political alliances that characterized Israel's infidelity, often at great risk, just as often against the conventional wisdom of the day. During the American Revolution, preachers addressed the injustice of British rule, always under the threat of treason, and the dire consequences of such a charge. During the civil war, church men spoke out against slavery, offending their own community constituents, but standing firm on the Word of God nonetheless. In World War II German pastors participated in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, at the cost of their lives. Don't tell me that the middle ground is where pastor's are supposed to stand! History defies that logic.
On Sunday, November 2, 2008, after a great deal of prayer and evaluation, I will personally endorse several candidates, local and national, seeking office in the November balloting. Everyone in our church family will not agree with these endorsements, and some perhaps will be offended. This is not my desire, to get in anyone's face about my own political views. However, the stances of the candidates and the parties have been carefully weighed, and evaluated on the a scale of personal priority---a topic I will tackle tomorrow.
The legitimacy of taking such a stance can be argued from just about every political and spiritual angle till Jesus comes again. For me, it is no contest.
"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Am I trying to please men? If I were trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ" (Colossians 1:10). A pretty decent argument against subjecile dysfunction, if you ask me.
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