NASHVILLE (BP) – Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, doesn’t feel politics is something to avoid.
“Christians engaging in elections should not be seen as an extracurricular activity,” said Griffin, who has advocated on behalf of Georgia Baptists in the state capitol for 17 years. “It’s the core of their citizenship responsibility!”
Less than two weeks remain of an election season that seems to have reached “high” on the burner setting in January and is currently in the broiler. It would stand to reason that the general public would be ready for a break.
According to a recent study by Lifeway Research, though, churchgoers are becoming more accepting of pastors addressing current issues, with 80 percent even agreeing that it’s part of the job.
Griffin’s counterpart for the South Carolina Baptist Convention, Tony Beam, said it is important for the distinction to be made that pastors should focus more on how issues are addressed in Scripture, not according to a political candidate’s stand.
“Take note of the world around us – the culture, where it’s going and what the priorities are – and then take God’s Word and apply that in a way that helps people have clarity about the world … and respond to changes that are coming at us very fast,” he said.
Topics like abortion, gender and immigration have taken the front seat of discussions at work, home and yes, church. When moral issues become political ones, that can lead to those standing on a biblical perspective to also become targets. It can even cause hesitation among pastors who don’t want to receive labels such as “Christian nationalist.”
“I don’t think we need to worry about that,” said Beam. “All it does is make you a faithful person who is handling the Word of God and trying to help people navigate in our culture.”
Be informed, engaged
“A common moral code can no longer be assumed in our nation anymore,” said Griffin. “Pastors do not need to be afraid of preaching the ‘whole counsel of God’ as the apostle Paul urged in Acts 20:27.
“Evangelist J. Harold Smith said years ago that, ‘No matter where you cut the Bible, it bleeds Jesus.’ Every social and moral issue can be traced back to the power of the Gospel to enable correction and change in people’s lives.”
Kyle McDanell works on behalf of Kentucky Baptists as a chaplain to lawmakers through the state convention’s Capitol Commission. As such, he does not take an active role at the capitol but works with both parties.
Even so, he sees politics as “an extension of Jesus’ exhortation to love our neighbor.”
“Building regulations, tax policy and education policy may not be explicitly addressed in Scripture,” said McDanell, who also serves as pastor of East Frankfort Baptist Church. “But Christians ought to care enough for the well-being of their community to be informed and even engaged. This requires much wisdom in establishing beneficial laws and regulations.”
Crucial to that is being shaped more by “divine revelation” than “party rhetoric,” he added, noting that it requires a “significant investment in Scripture and the Gospel which helps the believer see through the muckiness of politics.”
Beam, Griffin and McDanell all said pastors and churchgoers should remember that political leaders are people who actually do want to hear from their constituents.
“Go to meetings,” said Beam. “City council, school board, county commission – they’re all open. Listen to what leaders are saying. Gather information and know what’s happening. Don’t get your news from social media, but find several news outlets you trust and check resources.
“Local leaders want you to know them because they want you to vote for them. I’m surprised how many people have no clue who their state senator, state representative or congressional leader is. The higher up you go the harder it will be to know them well, but you can have input.”
Love with truth
McDanell cites two areas of priority for becoming knowledgeable of current issues and communicating them well with elected leaders.
“Christians ought to grow in areas of knowledge, wisdom and discernment,” he said. “Regarding knowledge, believers should prioritize reliable resources untainted by biased agendas. Regarding wisdom and discernment, a robust understanding of a Christian worldview is vital.
“Regarding developing relationships with political leaders, character and consistency matters. Our voices will be heard when we are clearly motivated by a love of neighbor above fear or hate.”
Griffin’s experience has taught him that the only thing worse than not doing the right thing is doing the right thing the wrong way.
He referenced Chicago pastor Jon Kelly, who in speaking on a panel last June for the Ethics & Religions Liberty Commission encouraged people to be surgeons and not butchers when it comes to communicating truth.
“Loving your neighbor doesn’t mean you compromise your convictions, but the tone in which we communicate to one another kills our witness more than anything we’re talking about,” Kelly said.
“Surgeons and butchers both use sharp objects to cut. Butchers are cutting with no regard for life. Surgeons cut only what they need to because they’re trying to preserve your life. And we just have too many Christians who are speaking right theology, but with the heart of a butcher and not the heart of a surgeon.”
Stewardship includes engaging in the election process from a biblical perspective, said Griffin.
“In a republic, we as Christian citizens are supposed to participate as the ‘salt and light’ that God has called us to be for the sake of the Gospel and God’s glory,” he said. “It is imperative, now more than ever, that we demonstrate the life-changing power of the Gospel in the way we vote and serve in government.”
Griffin commented that the discussion about Christians and politics actually isn’t about politics at all “as much as it is about being biblical in the way we live our life.”
And the way we live, if it reflects Christ, is a powerful pundit on political matters.
“God has a lot to say about sexuality. God has a lot to say about life and how it’s precious,” said Beam.
“Talk about the values, the principles, the theology, the things that are underlying the political issues. And then people can have the truth about the issue and then make decisions about who to support politically, based on the truth of God’s Word.”
