The Political Church

Jay Horsley

As churches have abandoned their God given responsibilities to teach the lost, edify the saved, and worship in the purity and simplicity of Christ, they have found a myriad of other activities to justify their existence and fill their days. So the spiritual has been replaced with the social, the recreational, the educational, the entertaining and increasingly, the political.

This is nothing but worldliness. The social things that churches do are exactly what their secular counterparts do. The recreational and entertaining things churches do are exactly what the world does. And so it is with the political things also. Conservative minded churches engage in conservative politics by giving out Christian Coalition voter guides and helping to organize, fund and campaign for pro-life and limited governments candidates and causes. Liberal minded churches host left leaning politicians and help organize, fund and campaign for pro-choice, homosexual rights and other big government candidates and causes.

As the preacher (although usually regarded as “pastor” with all the usurped authority that goes with it), I am constantly asked by various politicians, interest groups, and even other “pastors” and churches to join with them in various political causes. All these think that I should use my moral authority and influence to mobilize those who hear my sermons behind their cause. This would an absolute abuse of my authority. The preacher has the right, no the obligation, to speak forcefully. “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.” (Tit. 2:15) But what are “these things” that must be taught in this way? The things revealed in the word of God.

To preach politics with the same authority and from the same place of authority (the pulpit in the house of God), is to make worldly things equal with the things of God. Moreover, to preach political things instead of the things of God is to deem them more important than the things of God because you use your limited, precious time and resources to concentrate on them instead of what God said. But this does not stop the worldly minded from doing it.

As an example of this, consider a mailing I recently received addressed to me as a “leader” of this congregation. It came from the “Baptist General Convention: Christian Ethics and Public Life Section: Christian Life Commission.” This is a full scale permanent bureaucratic structure dedicated to involvement in political issues. If I had received the same type letter at my home from a special interest group I would have simply trashed it like the rest of the junk mail. But this came to the church from a religious group.

The letter was advocating that I should stir the congregation to action against a proposed container port near Seabrook. There was going to be a meeting for public comment, so they wanted me to get you there. They said, “our goal is to have a very large crowd there,” and “Please come join the voice of many and help us be heard.” Would not these sentiments have fit perfectly with those politically minded Jewish zealots who wanted to force Jesus to be their earthly king? (Jn. 6:15) “Get a crowd! Let's be heard! Don't let them ignore us!” they might well have cried. But Jesus' kingdom was not one of political motivations and mobilizations. Yet on this political issue a church instructed me to do just this and to direct all questions about it to the “Baptist General Convention of Texas,” the First Baptist Church in Seabrook or its “pastor.” (At least we can hope that their involvement in politics keeps them from teaching Baptist false doctrines on salvation.)

This letter from the Baptists also contained all manner of information about air pollution, effects of dredging in Galveston Bay, wetlands, land usage, traffic and railroads. No matter how interested you are I may be (or not be) in any of these issues, on which of these should I speak about, or advocate action on, from the pulpit? I must preach the gospel with the certainty of a “Thus saith the Lord” from book, chapter and verse. But no matter how certain I may be in my conviction on these other matters, or how important I consider them, they are areas of judgment. The book of God does not address them except under the general principles of man being a good steward of the earth God gave him dominion over. God said “fill,” “subdue” and “rule” the earth. (Gen. 1:26-28) Unless obvious and mindless wreckage of God's creation is taking place, the decisions about these matters are areas of judgments of men which are decided politically.

In these areas of judgment, one man's urban sprawl is the place where another's dream house is being built. One woman's long awaited shopping center is another one's wetland destruction. The business man's new pier might be destruction of the retirees' fishing hole. The increasing traffic I hate to wait in is the lifeblood of the businesses that line the street. These are all matters of judgment, political discussion, property rights, economic interest, regulation and community concern. But they are outside the scope of the church of the Lord's spiritual mission. We are to save souls, not wetlands. We are concerned with morality, not property values. We are to save souls by faith, not live to preserve fish, fowl, predator and prey.

Thus to take part and take sides is not the preacher's or the church's job. As a citizen, take part in all the politics, issues, causes and concerns that interest you and you have time for. Use your Christians principles to guide you as you do. But as Foy Wallace, Jr. said in a previous generation, “The Christian's relation to the nation is that of individual responsibility. The government deals with the individual. [In these matters] the church cannot speak for its members.” The Sermon on the Mount and the Civil State, pg. 12.