Greeting friends of the Elm Park & Otego UMC’s in the name of Christ our Lord!
As I have tried to stray away from politics thus far this year, something happened. I failed. Again! I realized why though. It’s inescapable.
The last thing we want to hear in church is something political. I try my best to be careful at the pulpit to not say something “too political.” I don’t always succeed however because we live in such politically charged times. If I say something “too politcal,” I know I run the risk of offending someone. Full disclosure, I was once told by a Bishop that “if you’re making people angry, you’re probably doing something right.” I never forgot that.
In reading up on our current times, our politics, and our pulpits, I came across an article that is written better than what I could have wrote, so I would rather just share it with you below. In italics below, is an article from a man named Christopher Wilkerson in which he explores politics from the pulpit:
Let’s talk about what politics actually is. Politics is the term we use for the ways that a group of people goes about making collective decisions for their group. Sometimes formalized in legislatures, governments, courts; sometimes as informal as the cool kid’s influence in your 7th grade clique.
Now, if you don’t agree with this definition of politics, let me ask you: have you ever been a member of a neighborhood association? A church congregation? A family? You gonna tell me there’s no politics in such environments? Really?
To be clear, the Gospel is not Democratic. Nor is it Republican. Indeed, Jesus says and does things that deeply disturb and anger both of those camps at various times. But if you argue that politics has no place in the Gospel, then you’ve just admitted that you don’t understand the Gospel at all. The Gospel is not partisan in any contemporary American sense of the term, but it is inescapable political…or else it is utterly irrelevant to our actual lives.
Now, it’s pretty glaringly obvious that the Holy Scriptures, and especially Jesus in the Gospels, have some rather particular and specific things to say about how God desires and intends for us to live together with each other, about how we are to make decisions as a community, about what and whom we are to value in our societies. And how do we go about making decisions that express and make concrete our values? How do we construct, organize, and administer decision-making processes? How do we settle conflicts and decide what the group is gonna do?
My friends in Christ, the answer is POLITICS! “Love your enemy and pray for your persecutor” is a political statement. “Welcome the foreigner who sojourns in your land, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” is a politics statement. “Even as you do unto the least of these, you have done unto Me” is a political statement.
So when I point out that racism, homophobia, trans phobia, xenophobia, unfettered and unhinged greed, climate depredation, the existence of billions, et al., are all contrary to the Gospel, that ain’t just my personal political whims I’m spouting – though many like to dismiss them as such … … but no, that’s not me – that’s the Gospel. And when we pretend otherwise, we betray the Gospel, neuter it, render it not only irrelevant to the world in which we live, but also just plain meaningless across the board.
(Now, I mentioned earlier that the Gospel can be just as uncomfortable for liberals/progressives as it can be for conservatives. I stand by that. The emphasis on the reality of evil as a Thing, the desperate need for personal repentance, confession, and absolution from God through Jesus Christ, the inescapable fact that we human being cannot, cannot by any means or device or activity of our own design or effort, save ourselves, that we are utterly dependent upon the unearned grace of God…few progressives are fully comfortable with such truths. There are exceptions, of course, just as there are conservative who understand collective sin and systemic injustice.
In other words, there’s plenty in the Gospel to convict us all, wherever we are on the American political spectrum. But in any event, we cannot follow the Gospel and not embrace the political demands it makes on us.)
For the record, none of the above diminishes in any way the spiritual truth and power of the Gospel. The Gospel is inherently political but of course not exclusively so. The Good News is that in the human flesh and being of Jesus Christ, the entire Godhead is made manifest to us and for us, effecting our salvation from sin and death by and through and because of the sheer love and unearned Grace of God.
But, my brothers and sisters and others, the fact that God Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth loves us so deeply, overwhelmingly, so irretrievably that this God chooses to become one of us, to experience first hand the suffering and death that define us, to fling open the heavens and prove to us that not even death can undo that love…that fact has clear political implications.
We cannot, for a start, heap contempt upon any of God’s beloved (i.e., everybody)!
So when folks say “Keep politics out of the pulpit,” they’re really saying “Keep the Gospel ~ and then keep God ~ out of the Church and out of my life.” And as we say back home in the South, “That dog won’t hunt.”
-Christopher Wilkerson
So you see, even the Constitution spells out a separation between church and state, but it doesn’t mean that faith can or should be divorced from politics. It just needs to be done carefully and clearly showing how biblical values are informing whatever statement you’re making.
How does this relate to today’s politics and the Church’s witness? People who may be “outside the church” long for an example of how to live together in these difficult times and without the exhausting war-like posturing. The Church’ witness frequently begins with the individual Christian, so here are some practical steps to provide such a witness.
Let’s reduce the news noise. Let’s carefully examine our consumption of social media and the 24-hour news cycle. These platforms exist to generate revenue. That means they need eyeballs on the screen, and riling up their audiences is a good way to keep people looking at those screens. I do not mean to suggest that we should be uninformed. Rather, let’s not get sucked in to overheated discussions which merely feed on themselves.
Speak privately. When having political and/or difficult conversations with others, look them in the eye—and one-on-one. The vast majority of communication in non-verbal. I can recall several conversations about the perceptions of tone of voice in an email. It just can’t be done. Text messages, comments, and threads can often lead to more hurt and confusion. Give them up for a face-to-face conversation. And do it with just the two of you. There is something about a group that allows us to drift into seeking allies who will agree with our point of view rather than the best interest of a mutually edifying discussion. The “mob mentality” can be intoxicating. (Matthew 18 is clear on how we are to handle differences this way.)
Trust God first, not your opinion. Let’s have the courage to admit that you don’t have the exact and only answer to every political question. Often there are all sorts of complexities in political matters we may not see. However, the Lord, who wants to bring about the Kingdom on Earth, does. Let’s seek God’s answer rather than campaign for our own.
Keep this all in mind this Lenten season as we prepare the way of the Lord for Easter!
Your brother in Christ, Pastor John
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