Politics
Sep 16, 2008 Uncategorized
I have had a lot of people ask me recently who I’m going to vote for in the upcoming election, what my “political leanings” are, etc. I have had a few suggest I should at minimum blog about the upcoming election or at most teach a series at Riv.
That’s why I was so glad to read Mark Batterson’s interview with LeadershipJournal.net. He is a pastor in Washington DC and has to respond to these types of questions often. Here’s a great answer he gave to this question:
When someone new arrives at National Community Church, how do you encourage them to leave their politics at the door?
Loud silence. In a city that’s always talking about politics, it’s noticeable when we don’t talk about it. We want church to be a safe place to hear a dangerous message, and it’s not a political message. It’s the message of the cross. We’re very intentional about avoiding political stuff or anything that will distract from our core message. So, we’re screening our bulletin, we’re analyzing what we say up front. We keep it pretty simple. And I think that’s what’s really protected us from being distracted by the politics around us.
Here’s some thoughts on government I posted a while back.
September 16th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
thank you so much for that quote. i agree 110%.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:25 am
Dear Noel,
Politics is a big word, it has many components at many levels; from the household to the community from public authority to business… what part of politics should be left outside of the Church door?
Is political neutrality not a myth? And if it exists, it’s probably not a good thing? I mean how ‘politically neutral’ should a Church be in face of poverty, social injustice, oppression, ecological disaster, inequity and slavery? Is it too political to take a stance there?
Greets from A*dam
September 17th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I don’t believe in being “apolitical” as much as I believe in being “apolemic” (is that a word) when it comes to politics.
I will certainly stand where the Bible says to stand on issues, but I am not convinced that either party has a monopoly on being biblical and there are a great many godly Christ-followers I respect on both sides of the political divide.