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Should churches and pastors share politics from the pulpit? History of the Johnson Amendment
- Thread starter Michie
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David Lamb
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No, I don't think it was political. At least, it wasn't political in the way we use that word today. When I hear or read words like "politics from the pulpit" I think f preachers who include in their sermons advice about which party church members should vote for.
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Laodicean60
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No! Look at us now, neighbor against neighbor and Christian against Christian, tribal warfare. My church has both political persuasions, and it wouldn't be wise for the pastor to preach his political views. Unless we have only Republican churches, which, to me, is a cult.
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Derf
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Yes, that's exactly the point. We think of "political" as meaning the partisan divide we have in the USA, but that's not the definition in the dictionaries, at least not the main definition.
But if a particular candidate were pro-murder, would it be good to speak against that candidate? If a candidate were pro-theft, pro-adultery, for children disobeying their parents, and against the church, should a pastor speak out from the pulpit?
That's what happens when people say pastors shouldn't discuiss politics. It is a ploy by those who don't want the influence of Christ in any way in our society. And it is decidedly against our Constitution.
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Derf
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Because not everyone knows when a candidate promotes murder, theft, adultery and disrespect to parents. But even if they do know, it is not a problem to point out sin, unless you reject John the baptist's and Jesus' messages about politicians.
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Derf
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Not ignore, but at least vote the best guy into each office we vote for. Else we are not participating in our country the way we ought to. And, we still tell the truth to and about whoever is currently in office to hopefully bring conviction of sin to their minds. John the baptist told the truth about Herod stealing his brother's wife. Would he have voted for him knowing such? I can't see how, but if the other candidates were worse, maybe you vote for Herod, then proclaim his sin to see if he repents.
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Laodicean60
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and their constituents. Too many people force Paul's teachings onto their neighbors.
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timothyu
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Yes, and again it is the church's job to focus on the Kingdom, not the world of man. As a result the congregations should do likewise. The world wants us to forget there is a third option to be supportive of over the two they offer.
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Derf
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Or the greater of two (or more) goods, depending on how you want to word it. In the extreme, avouding the lesser of two evils will have Christians never voting at all, leaving the choice for who determines what is good vs evil (for the city/state/nation) in the hands of those who believe murder/theft/adultery/disobeying parents is all ok. Which is the worst of all those evils.
But if someone believes murder is wrong and theft is wrong, but dabbles in adultery, is it possibke that he might be convinced to stop being adulterous over time? Kind of like King David was repentant for murder, theft, and adultery, once it was explained to him?
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David is a bad example because he remained a bad king his entire life, making critical leadership errors that got other people killed into his old age.
There is no justification you can make for supporting one bad leader that doesn't apply to the other. Either of them could, hypothetically, "see the light" in the future.
It still amounts to selecting which sins you choose to ignore at the present time.
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Derf
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Absolutely.
1. they have the perfect standard for right vs wrong.
2. they have the Holy Spirit to guide them.
3. they have the body of Christ to help them in their discernment.
4. they have at least one gift of the Holy Spirit, which might include wisdom, knowledge, prophecy, discernment, etc
Paul called upon the government to protect him from those seeking his life. So at least in some sense we must heed the "games of mankind". Plus, our founders gave us a representative style of givernment so that when our leaders sin, we should be quick to vote them out of office. Those are not mere games, but tools in the hands of righteous people to deal with thise who mock the commands of God.
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