Politics
O.K. I know this is a dangerous one, but it came up in my quiet time so here goes…
Politics has no place in Church, but rather it is our faith that must invade our politics.
Despite opportunity and even encouragement Jesus pointedly kept his ministry apolitical. Although He came to change our world he did not plot a course through Rome, nor through the power base of Jerusalem, but through the souls of everyday people, civic leaders and prostitutes alike.
The Church, His people, must do the same today.
Despite great persecution by the powers that be, Paul never turned his message away from that of Jesus Christ. At times he was frustrated with the world he lived in, as we all are, but in the end his instruction to Christians on politics goes something like this: Pray for our leaders no matter their faith or the goodness of their souls because we need peace and order so that we may continue our mission as Christians.
Christians should be very cautious and thoughtful before aligning ourselves with any secular political movement because it is not a gospel priority. As a Christian I must care and participate in shaping our society and its government. Indeed I rarely miss the op-ed section of the paper. I would feel almost sinful if I didn’t inform myself and vote, often based upon my Christian principles. But as a church our priorities, given to us by God, are clearly to be elsewhere.
What this means for me as a pastor is that I will often talk about social issues that intersect faith, but I will never publically endorse a candidate. Do you want to know if I’m going to vote Republican or Democratic? You’ll have to ask me, because you won’t hear about it from the pulpit.
I think Oz Guinness said it almost perfectly, “Called to be “in” the world but “not of it,” Christian engagement in politics should always be marked by a tension between allegiance to Christ and identification with any party, movement, platform, or agenda. If that tension is ever lacking, if Christian identification with a political movement is so close that there is not any clear remainder, then the church has fallen for a particularly deadly captivity.”
Politics has no place in Church, but rather it is our faith that must invade our politics.
Despite opportunity and even encouragement Jesus pointedly kept his ministry apolitical. Although He came to change our world he did not plot a course through Rome, nor through the power base of Jerusalem, but through the souls of everyday people, civic leaders and prostitutes alike.
The Church, His people, must do the same today.
Despite great persecution by the powers that be, Paul never turned his message away from that of Jesus Christ. At times he was frustrated with the world he lived in, as we all are, but in the end his instruction to Christians on politics goes something like this: Pray for our leaders no matter their faith or the goodness of their souls because we need peace and order so that we may continue our mission as Christians.
Christians should be very cautious and thoughtful before aligning ourselves with any secular political movement because it is not a gospel priority. As a Christian I must care and participate in shaping our society and its government. Indeed I rarely miss the op-ed section of the paper. I would feel almost sinful if I didn’t inform myself and vote, often based upon my Christian principles. But as a church our priorities, given to us by God, are clearly to be elsewhere.
What this means for me as a pastor is that I will often talk about social issues that intersect faith, but I will never publically endorse a candidate. Do you want to know if I’m going to vote Republican or Democratic? You’ll have to ask me, because you won’t hear about it from the pulpit.
I think Oz Guinness said it almost perfectly, “Called to be “in” the world but “not of it,” Christian engagement in politics should always be marked by a tension between allegiance to Christ and identification with any party, movement, platform, or agenda. If that tension is ever lacking, if Christian identification with a political movement is so close that there is not any clear remainder, then the church has fallen for a particularly deadly captivity.”
posted by Aaron McMillan at 10:22 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home