Jonathots Daily Blog
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I love my church and my pastor, but every four years my preacher tells us who to vote for. I really don’t like this. Should I speak to him about this? Write an anonymous note? What is the best way to handle this? I don’t want to leave the church because of this one issue.
Well it really comes down to this point: does a minister of the Gospel have a responsibility to steer his congregation concerning a political decision?
It is not a question of whether he has the right. If a preacher insists he has a calling from God, then he can’t use the Constitution of the United States as proof of his legal authority to voice his opinion in the pulpit in political matters. If you’re going to claim a higher purpose, then you must live by the dictates of that higher calling, not merely the civil rights afforded to you by your government.
So it comes down to the question of how did the Good Shepherd handle the issue of political favoritism? And of course, when I say Good Shepherd, I am speaking of Jesus.
- Jesus had a congregation.
- Jesus had a flock.
- Jesus had a following.
Unquestionably, they were swayed by his opinions.
Judea in the 1st Century A.D. was politically charged. It was Jews against Samaritans, Samaritans against Gentiles, Gentiles divided over their allegiance to Rome, and Rome basically swallowing up most of the air with its imperialism and desire to conquer.
There was tremendous pressure on Jesus to pick a side. For instance:
He was invited to the palace of Herod to discuss his work. He declined.
The woman at the well suggested that he should show a bit more favoritism to the Samaritans to balance things out. He didn’t.
And of course, the Jewish hierarchy wanted him to speak out against Rome. And his classic phrasing of “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s” still remains as a guideline for those who preach the Gospel.
They even wanted Jesus to express sympathy for Jewish folk who had been killed by Pontius Pilate while merely worshipping in the synagogue. Although it would have been easy for him to do so, he remained neutral.
Since he taught that “the Kingdom of God is within us,” how we are governed doesn’t make nearly as much difference as the decision we make on how to live our personal lives. Your pastor has absolutely no right to color the vote of his sheep. But confronting him on such an issue is not only disrespectful, but would certainly be unproductive.
If your church does not use Jesus as the primary example, then your pastor will probably fall back on Old Testament nationalism to condone his choices.
At that point, you have to make a decision.
Do you want to be part of New Testament church that follows Jesus, or a church which haphazardly mingles Jesus and Moses together with equal authority and power?
I see nothing wrong with posing the question to your pastor, “Do you think Jesus would campaign for a candidate, and if you do think so, what story from his life do you use to confirm that?”
Even the Apostle Paul told us to pray for those who are in authority over us–not campaign against them.
The church will become a much more powerful unit for spiritual and social change when it pushes for separation from the state.
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