It's too political.
I've been rather disappointed lately, disappointed in churches, and the pastors who lead them. Or perhaps more accurately, should be leading them.
If we as Christians are called to love and serve our fellow human beings - and I believe that we are - then shouldn't we encourage each other in that? And shouldn't pastors encourage their congregations to show their love for their fellow human beings? It seems reasonable to me. Yet some pastors are actively discouraging their congregations from doing what Christians should be doing.
I attended the meeting of the Social Justice Committee at a local church a few evenings ago. Somebody suggested that the Committee should do something for Advent, maybe a book discussion or something. We started discussing a topic to go with, and somebody suggested “world peace.” But someone said they thought the pastor wouldn't like that, it was too political. I was going to say something right then, but the conversation moved on too quickly. Later someone suggested we could do a study of global warming, and maybe show Al Gore's film, “An Inconvenient Truth.” But again, somebody said the pastor wouldn't like that, it was too political.
That's when I lost it. When I hear something like that, I think, “there's a man on the fast track to hell.”
World peace is too political an issue for Christians to discuss? Global warming is too political an issue for Christians to discuss?
War may be a political issue, but peace is a moral issue, and therefore a Christian issue. Jesus, the man we sometimes call the “Prince of Peace”, said “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Shouldn't we all be blessed peacemakers for Jesus? What does it say when a pastor tells his congregation that world peace is “too political”? God's children are suffering and dying, and the pastor thinks world peace is “too political”? To me, he's not saying “it's too political”, he's saying, “don't be Christians.”
Is global warming a political issue? Although those who profit from the activities of man that are causing global warming make it a political issue, I contend that it is in fact a moral issue, and therefore a Christian issue. Global warming will make large areas of the Earth uninhabitable. Sea levels will rise and flood low lying lands. People - God's children - will suffer and die. And they will be dying because we refused to stop driving our cars, because we refused to stop burning coal and oil to generate electricity. They will die because we felt our lifestyle was more important than their lives. That is a moral issue, that is a Christian issue, and it is wrong for somebody who claims to be a church leader to not only refuse to lead his congregation on this issue, but to stand in the way of his congregation.
I have seen similar things take place at other churches. I have been thinking for some time that it would be good to have a public discussion of what can be done to decrease the number of abortions performed in this country. It seems to me that, pro-life or pro-choice, we should be able to agree that abortion is undesirable, and that it would be a good thing to reduce the number of abortions. I talked to the pastor at the church I usually attend about having a public discussion at the church about how to reduce the number of abortions. He wouldn't allow it at his church, because it's “too controversial.” This is a conservative, “pro-life” Baptist church, yet the pastor feels it's “too controversial” to discuss how to actually go about curtailing abortions. Interestingly, he didn't say it's “too political” an issue, and “pro-life” Christians are often politically active in trying to outlaw abortion. But apparently it's more important to make abortion illegal than to actually reduce the number of abortions performed.
C.H. Spurgeon once said, “I do not think the devil cares how many churches you build, if only you have lukewarm people and preachers in them.” A preacher who discourages his congregation from taking stands and taking action on moral issues is less than lukewarm. Pastors, if you are to be church leaders, then get out of the way and start leading.
If we as Christians are called to love and serve our fellow human beings - and I believe that we are - then shouldn't we encourage each other in that? And shouldn't pastors encourage their congregations to show their love for their fellow human beings? It seems reasonable to me. Yet some pastors are actively discouraging their congregations from doing what Christians should be doing.
I attended the meeting of the Social Justice Committee at a local church a few evenings ago. Somebody suggested that the Committee should do something for Advent, maybe a book discussion or something. We started discussing a topic to go with, and somebody suggested “world peace.” But someone said they thought the pastor wouldn't like that, it was too political. I was going to say something right then, but the conversation moved on too quickly. Later someone suggested we could do a study of global warming, and maybe show Al Gore's film, “An Inconvenient Truth.” But again, somebody said the pastor wouldn't like that, it was too political.
That's when I lost it. When I hear something like that, I think, “there's a man on the fast track to hell.”
World peace is too political an issue for Christians to discuss? Global warming is too political an issue for Christians to discuss?
War may be a political issue, but peace is a moral issue, and therefore a Christian issue. Jesus, the man we sometimes call the “Prince of Peace”, said “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Shouldn't we all be blessed peacemakers for Jesus? What does it say when a pastor tells his congregation that world peace is “too political”? God's children are suffering and dying, and the pastor thinks world peace is “too political”? To me, he's not saying “it's too political”, he's saying, “don't be Christians.”
Is global warming a political issue? Although those who profit from the activities of man that are causing global warming make it a political issue, I contend that it is in fact a moral issue, and therefore a Christian issue. Global warming will make large areas of the Earth uninhabitable. Sea levels will rise and flood low lying lands. People - God's children - will suffer and die. And they will be dying because we refused to stop driving our cars, because we refused to stop burning coal and oil to generate electricity. They will die because we felt our lifestyle was more important than their lives. That is a moral issue, that is a Christian issue, and it is wrong for somebody who claims to be a church leader to not only refuse to lead his congregation on this issue, but to stand in the way of his congregation.
I have seen similar things take place at other churches. I have been thinking for some time that it would be good to have a public discussion of what can be done to decrease the number of abortions performed in this country. It seems to me that, pro-life or pro-choice, we should be able to agree that abortion is undesirable, and that it would be a good thing to reduce the number of abortions. I talked to the pastor at the church I usually attend about having a public discussion at the church about how to reduce the number of abortions. He wouldn't allow it at his church, because it's “too controversial.” This is a conservative, “pro-life” Baptist church, yet the pastor feels it's “too controversial” to discuss how to actually go about curtailing abortions. Interestingly, he didn't say it's “too political” an issue, and “pro-life” Christians are often politically active in trying to outlaw abortion. But apparently it's more important to make abortion illegal than to actually reduce the number of abortions performed.
C.H. Spurgeon once said, “I do not think the devil cares how many churches you build, if only you have lukewarm people and preachers in them.” A preacher who discourages his congregation from taking stands and taking action on moral issues is less than lukewarm. Pastors, if you are to be church leaders, then get out of the way and start leading.
posted by Jim Allyn at 10/10/2006 04:34:00 PM
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