No Politics, Please

            You may have noticed that I don’t discuss politics on this blog.  With the election about a month away, I thought it might be a good time to tell you why.

            There are a variety of reasons.  For one thing, I have no qualifications in that area.  I’m not an expert on domestic policy, foreign policy, or anything else.  My opinion may be no worse than anybody else’s, but there’s no reason to think it’s any better, either.  For me to write about politics would take me away from writing about things I (supposedly) know about.

            Even if I thought my opinions on politics were worth sharing, there’s probably not much chance they would persuade anyone.  It’s not like anyone’s waiting to hear what Jeff Adel thinks about politics before they decide how they’re going to vote.  Nor should you.  We all have the ability to find out the facts and reach our own conclusions.

            Here’s the main reason I don’t write about politics, though.  I am interested in political issues, but as a pastor, I’m much more interested in salvation issues.  As I wrote last week, I’ve gotten to know quite a few people in my life.  These people come from any and all sides of the political spectrum.  I know people who are socialists, liberals, moderates, conservatives, libertarians, and everything else.

            Here’s the thing.  I’ve known people who, at least as far as I can tell, are sincere, loving Christians in all of those categories and others.  I’ve known plenty of people with whom I am in complete and total disagreement with on politics who I firmly believe will be going to heaven.  There’s no correlation that I can see between one’s politics and one’s faith.

            And here’s the other thing.  If I, as a pastor, discuss politics, I lose some of the ability to minister to people who disagree with me.  I lose some of the ability to bring God’s word to those who don’t agree with my political views.  It does not make reaching those people impossible, but it does make it more difficult.

            This is true if I discuss politics anywhere, but it’s especially true if I do so from the pulpit.  I believe that if I mention politics in a sermon, anyone who disagrees with me will not hear anything else I say in that sermon, and will be on their guard for similar things in the next several sermons I preach.  That’s not a good situation for a pastor to be in.

            And here’s one more thing.  When I read the Bible, I see lots of times when Jesus was invited to take stands on the political issues of the day.  He did not do so.  Instead, he would turn the question back on the questioner, or he would give an illustration, or he would tell a story.  The point of what he said was never what stand someone should take on a political issue.  The point was always, “Here is how you should live.”

            That’s the point.  Our faith is not shown by how we vote.  Our faith is shown by how we live.  Yes, there should be congruence between our religious beliefs and our political beliefs, but we need to be careful to let our faith inform our politics, rather than the other way around.

            I also want to say that I am aware that there are pastors who do let their politics be known, sometimes from the pulpit.  I know they have reasons for doing so.  Nothing I’ve written today should be taken as criticism of them.  This is intended as an explanation of my own position, not as a standard that everyone should be required to follow.

            So, pay attention to what’s going on, pray, and make the best decisions you can, about politics and everything else.  Remember, though, that no matter how the election turns out, our real Leader will not change.  God will still be in control and Jesus will still be our Savior.  No election will ever be able to change that.