I found this interesting and thought provoking, it was originally posted by a satirical “Christian” columnist although, I cleaned it up a bit here. Please read and comment your thoughts and ideas. These are not my ideas, nor do I endorse them. I am just interested in learning and expanding myself and my walk with The Lord, I am not pointing a finger at any one or Church, I am not trying to stir anything except thought. Just would like to have an intelligent “conversation” so-to-speak. Here are 10 reasons why pastors avoid political and cultural issues: By: Doug Giles 1. Fear of man. If you purport to be a man of “the cloth”, then your regard for God and his opinion must trump the trepidation of the creature he created. Lead us – don’t just follow us! Man of God, fear God! Declare his will and his way and let the chips fall where they may. Within both the Old and New Testaments there are very unmuddled, eternal opinions on current political issues. These opinions should be embraced and shouldn’t be publicly curbed and bridled because some congregant or a preening politician doesn’t agree with the scripture and might get their panties in a wad over a particular political issue. Never live for a nod from the congregation or some political twerp or a particular party, especially when said group is way off biblical base. 2. Ignorance. Most people are not bold in areas where they are ignorant. I know keeping up with all the pressing political issues is maddening but that’s life, and if you want to be a voice in society and not an echo, you have got to be in the know. Staying briefed, running each political issue through Scripture is par for the course, for the hardy world changer. It’s the information age. Get informed and watch your boldness increase. 3. Division. I hate the current non-essential divisions in the church as much as the next Christian. Dial down on the inconsequential seditiousness, okay, relax get focused. The Church is currently so divided and defeated with such minutiae that we can’t agree on which shade of white to use for our surrender flag. 4. Last Days Madness. Many ministers do not get involved in political issues because they believe that, “it simply doesn’t matter” since “the end has come”. Their only hope is in ‘The Rapture’. They see the church and themselves as impotent and having no real ability to change things culturally with any long-range ramifications. Thus, any stab at a better tomorrow is simply an exercise in futility for this crew. Attempting to right culture is, in their eyes, equivalent to polishing brass on a sinking ship. 5. Sloth. Classically defined, sloth is lethargy stemming from a sense of hopelessness. Viewing our nation and the world as an irreparable disaster, where our exhortations, prayers, votes and labors will not produce any temporal fruit, leaves one with all the no fervor. If you wonder why your flock is so apathetic, ask yourself, if you have stolen their earthly hope that their valiant efforts can actually prevail in time, and not just in eternity. 6. Tax Exemption Pre-emption. Many pastors, priests and parishioners have been cowed into inactivity by the supposed loss of their tax-exempt status if they say anything remotely political. This can make folks who don’t or won’t get good legal advice as politically active as Howard Hughes during the flu season … but it needn’t. First of all, there’s no need to have an IRS 501[c][3] tax-exempt charitable status to assemble and be a proper church. The church has been around a little bit longer than the 501 [c][3] statutes, right? We are afforded the right to assemble, by God and by the Constitution. Not having the tax exempt status simply means you’ll have to pay taxes at Costco when you buy hot dogs for the church picnic. Secondly, 501[c][3] or not, we are called to obey God rather than men, and God has called his leaders to be involved in civic affairs, and to represent Christ and his word in all areas of society. And that entails expounding the biblical worldview all the time, including election time. Sometimes you have to rebel against unrighteous, limiting laws. There’s nothing wrong with proper civil disobedience when the need arises, especially if the government tries to stifle your scriptural rights and obligations. 7. Paltry pietism and the separation from the world mentality. Pastors and priests avoid politics because such concerns are “unspiritual”, and their focus is on the “spirit world”. Yes, to imbalanced ministers, political affairs are seen as “temporal and carnal”, and because pastors and priests trade in the “eternal and spiritual”, such “transient” issues get no attention from them. They forget that they are commanded to be seriously engaged with our culture. The effects of this type of “Christian” separatism/pietism proved disastrous in pre-Nazi Germany, and aided and abetted Hitler. 8. The Thought Police have Tali-banned us. Pastors and priests have muffled their political voice because they fear being lumped in with the radical Muslim extremists by the politically correct thought police. The correlation made between Christians’ non-violent attempts at policy persuasion and Taliban’s kill-you-in-your-sleep campaigns is nothing more than pure uncut crapola. Here’s what I’m talking about: A minister who wants to protect the unborn, preserve the Biblical and traditional view of marriage, maintain our nation’s basis in some semblance of Biblical righteousness all of the sudden gets grouped up with Osama and his nuclear-suitcase-carrying cabal. Ministers, please blow off the tongue wagging blowhards who try to intimidate you into silence. 9. Mothering the Minute. Ministers can’t get involved in studying or speaking out regarding political issues simply because of the ten tons of minutiae they are forced to field. Ministers are lucky if they get to study the scripture nowadays, much less anything else. 10. It’ll cost them Money. The creepy thing about a lot of ministers is their unwillingness to give political offense when offense is needed, simply because taking a biblical stand on a political issue might cost them. Anytime a pastor takes a sturdy stand on a substantial issue, it usually ends up offending some people. Never fear, pastor. Even though nailing your colors to the mast during putrid political times might cost you a parishioner or two, don’t sweat it. There are also tens of thousands of serious parishioners who are looking for leaders with the ‘guts to lead the church to make its proper stance during days of declension. So, my advice to you, Mr. Minister, would be to stay the Biblical course against the secular corrupters. I guarantee you four things: God will send you soldiers of the cross, He will supernaturally increase your revenue to labor for His cause, You won’t have to look the other way when you approach a mirror, and – You will sleep better at night knowing that cash couldn’t buy your convictions. If Christian ministers would crucify their fear, get solidly briefed regarding the chief political issues, not sweat necessary division, maintain their hope for tomorrow, understand their liberties under God and our Constitution, then maybe … just maybe, we will see their influence cause our nation to take a righteous turn away from the secularist’s putrid path.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 03:14:40 +0000