NoelHeikkinen.com

Politics Part 3

Sep 25, 2008 Print This Post

Whenever I mention politics at Riv, I get emails that all ask pretty much the same thing.

Why do you/ Riverview not share your political views with the church?

I figured since I get this question so often, I should post my response here.

Let me say at the outset that I believe very strongly in our way of government and that each citizen (and each Christ follower) should vote their conscience. In fact, I have posted about this several times on my blog lately. I read this quote once and loved it:

“Religion should not be the exclusive possession of the Republican or Democratic Party, the right or the left, but must be able to critique and challenge both. And clearly, in this election, Christians will be voting both ways, because of their faith.”

Here are a few reasons I don’t make politics an issue:
1. People are all over the map politically at Riverview and many of them take the position they do because they believe “it is the most Christian position.” One side may see abortion as the main issue, the other may see human rights abuses at Guantanamo as a bigger issue. One may see stewardship of the environment as essential, the other may see freedom and liberty as essential. Each of these positions have faith in Jesus as their basis.
2. Because of this, I don’t believe either candidate has a monopoly on “morality” or on being “Jesus’ party.”
3. It is illegal for me to endorse a candidate as a pastor at Riverview and encourage people to vote for that candidate. We could lose our tax excempt status.
4. Focusing on politics has the potential to divide unneccesarily.
5. Focusing on politics runs to risk of us losing our focus on Jesus.