Everytime I attend a new church, I am surprised at how many pastors speak about political issues during their sermon, such as the war in Iraq, the faults of the President, and the direction the nation is headed politcally. Even when I think there might be one instance where a pastor doesn't hit on any of these issues, it always comes out near the end of their sermon.
This begs the question - Is it okay to mix church & politics?
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In this article, a megachurch pastor spoke against the conservative politics that his town upholds, and therefore lost a significant number of his congregation because they felt he should hold the same conservative views that they do.
What "got me" in this article is that so many pastors of Megachurches are approached by political leaders to endorse their views. So, sometimes the message that you get a church may be not of your pastor's, but of the politicians he aligns himself with.
When you think of the influence that Megachurches have, is it any wonder that they are approached in this manner? Men such as Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long, Charles Stanley, and Joel Osteen have huge audiences who hang on their every word -- and rightfully so sometimes.
But when a pastor begins speaking about political matters, how can you tell whether his words are spiritual in nature or driven by politicians?
In your opinion, is it okay to mix Church & Politics?
Or better yet, is it the church's responsibility to lead its followers in all ways, including politically?
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3 comments:
This issue has a two-fold answer and can get tricky because there are certain exceptions. Since the beginning God has used men/women called by his name to lead his people in the right direction. See Moses, Judges, Kings, Chronicles (etc.). Often times, these were real officials.
Even during the civil rights movement, you'll find that much of the movement, which involved societal issues and politics, was was spearheaded by members of the clergy (Rev King, Rev. Abernathy, Rev Lowery, Rev Young, Rev Vivian, Rev, Orange...and COUNTLESS others).
Our obligation now is to pray for those in authority so that we can live a peaceable life but what we have gotten into is a problem as described ...some pastors are targeted solely for their large or influential membership by political candidates. Some pastors are even moved by money or their personal opinion which does no one any good...but not all are. So the bad apples (or ones that lack understanding) make it difficult and cause us to want to set black line rules for everyone and it's not that concrete.
However, if a pastor is truly led by the Spirit of God, then he/she may be led to take a certain stand on an issue that will have a future detrimental affect on the society that they and their congregation have to live in. In that case, it has to happen that way, but is usually not too frequent of an occurrence.
I do understand the persuasive power in those situations. In my opinion, each member is obligated anyway to check things out for themselves, whether the information is of a political or non-policital nature to see if it lines up.
I agree that it's up to people to make their own decisions, but sometimes people come to the "Church" (capitalized for generalization) because they are weak in the ways of the world - in thinking, doing, and acting. And if those weaker individuals need spiritual directives, and if the preacher mixes their sermon with politics, that's when I feel like we get into dangerous territory.
Personally, I'd rather keep the 2 seperate. As soon as a preacher starts talking about political issues, I'm turned off because I don't think Sunday morning services are the appropriate venues for them to share their interpretation of the world and it's issues. I go to church to study, learn and to be fed spiritually. I can turn on to get my dose of evangelical politics any day of the week.
Any other takers on this?
Well, 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, Iraq, the situation in Iran, Lebannon, Isreal, Ireland vs England, Indonesia, on the continent of Africa all eminate from the interference of "religion" and politics. All through the ages most wars were due to religion mixing in with politics.
Fanatical politicans claiming "god" is saying or the "bible" (each religion has its form of a bible) says use religion to brainwash people into thinking their way of life and governing or no way! They very seldom leave room to tolerate other peoples viewpoints and ways of life. Religion is used a form of manipulation in the hands of "preachers" who want Power and Control over people to feed their own egos under the disguise of "god". There is such a number of weak minded, needy, meantlly and emotionally abused people who need these thypes of leaders to "guide" them and other people have no choice but to believe what they are told because they are isolated from other views.
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