October is Pastor Appreciation Month. This is also an election year. Whatever one's view on the current political and social landscape, I think we can all agree on one term to describe it; divisive. As contentious and nasty as this election season has been, it can be argued that this nation has seen worse. I'm sure our nation's Founders as well as Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln would have a few things to say regarding leading a nation during great division. But that is not the purpose of this blog. I'm curious to know how pastors responded and led their congregations during those respective time periods. Perhaps, some aspiring Church History Ph.D. candidate should consider that for a dissertation topic. I would read it with interest.
Meanwhile, may I refer you to a passage of scripture I read and researched with interest during my Pastoral Epistles class in seminary, years ago; 2 Timothy 2:22-26:
Flee the evil desires of you and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peach, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
As a general rule, I don't publicly endorse or speak against politicians. It's something I gleaned from the late Billy Graham. He was a friend and pastor to all the Presidents. He didn't always agree with their policies, but he was their pastor and unofficial adviser, nonetheless. He never spoke publicly for or against any of them. In fact, he recounts in his autobiography that more than once, a President asked him for his public endorsement, but he refused, even though his intention was to vote for that particular person.
People tend to get sensitive and emotional about their political persuasions and politician of choice. You can lose friends (literally be unfriended or blocked on social media) over expressing a differing political viewpoint. To some, their political leanings and/or social causes are their religion. Pastor, you know this as well as I do. You probably have your own stories to tell concerning this. This is why it is best not to publicly discuss politics, especially within your shepherding field. Is it more important that the sheep are persuaded to your political views or to Lord Jesus, the head shepherd? Remember, you are just the undershepherd, who must give an account for how you led the sheep under your care.
This doesn't mean that we ignore politics either. We must address the issues facing our world head-on. However, we must view them through biblical lenses and lead our people to do the same. In the passage noted above, Paul uses the term "gentle instruction" because people are in "the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will." Pastor, pray that God will give you wisdom and compassion. Wisdom not to fall captive yourself and compassion for those who live and operate under a false sense of righteousness. Your pulpit is a sacred place and should be only for proclaiming the timeless truths of the scriptures. Whether you like it or not, whether it's fair or not, your personal conversations and social media (if you choose to have social media) is an extension of the pulpit God has given you. It is not given to you to personally attack people, including politicians who do things that you oppose.
This is something that some colleagues in my field have voiced disagreement. Their argument has been that we must be a "prophetic voice" to the injustices in the world. I don't argue that God calls people to prophesy in this day. What I will argue is that God doesn't call prophets to speak out of ignorance. In my current profession as a correctional chaplain, I am exposed to a world that much of the general public does not know, including fellow pastors. I cannot go into detail beyond that and while I'm at it, I should take this time to state that my views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of the agency of which I am employed. I only mention my profession because it provides more context to a lot of social and political issues that dominate the news. I am typically out-of-step with some of my pastor colleagues when I read their expressed views on social media because I see a world that many of them do not see.
Many times, I want so badly to go public and provide further context on a particular hot-button issue, but I can't. It's frustrating, at times. It's also frustrating to see God's people get caught up in the emotion of an issue and speaking out of ignorance. It's even more frustrating when their pastors do it. We complain about the contentious and divisiveness of the rhetoric of our politicians, especially the so-called debates that we see on television. However, we, as the church, should promote and lead on a better way to dialogue and arrive at a more biblical view of an issue. But I've yet to see such an example by any church or Christian university. Truth be told, I've been disappointed in reading the social media accounts of some former professors, who have stated nasty things about certain politicians and people who support those certain politicians. One time, a professor was called out by one of his former students for publicly posting something denigrating about a politician and his supporters. This professor responded by blocking this former student and sending a private message with an expletive. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. He is a Bible professor and pastor!
Pastor, we can do better. It's possible to call attention to what is going on in the world, promote healthy dialogue in gaining better understanding on particular issues, look at them biblically, and respond accordingly in a way that glorifies God. If God is calling us to be modern-day prophets on any particular issue, then we should go well-informed and speak boldly, but with a broken-heart, full of compassion. And we should not hide behind our social media, but, like the Old Testament prophets, and the New Testament apostles, physically go to those places to deliver the message. But do so in a way that people see through the devil's trap and come to repentance without quarreling. It's not as easy at it sounds. That's why your profession is such a high calling, pastor.
