Pulpit Freedom Sunday

This Sunday, dubbed “Pulpit Freedom Sunday”, several thousand pastors are going to state their political beliefs in front of their congregations. I have mixed feelings on the subject, as I will delineate below. For the purposes of this delineation, I will make myself falsely superior to all, so that I can avoid claims of pride. I do not need my conscious intruding on a topic such as this.

I am pleased that Christian people are fighting an injustice they feel is present, rather than (for many years) relying on simply passively allowing the will of God to work. (Note: this is a rather harsh statement, though I mean this for the Church in general, not any specific congregation, nor even a region of congregations. Rather, the direction the Body itself has taken.)

On the other hand, I am angered at the direction these pastors take. God doesn't need our petty human alliances preached from a pulpit, and he surely doesn't want them. If a pastor wishes to endorse a political party, then I would think he should then preach the values the candidate or party holds, and have the people come to the party themselves. Separation of Church and State, I believe, should hold true both ways. These two friends should remain apart, though you'd think they never do.

Personally, I feel the government should remain secular, without any religious influence, while the people operating it carry their religious views. Thus, preaching politicos at the pulpit make me shudder for their faith. I must be missing something, for thousands of men of faith much stronger in their faith than I have decided that this is okay. But, if these men preach to the masses, that gives them the impression that God allows such things, and that God has a stake in human government. With this flawed view of God, these masses would then challenge many other things, and attempt to make the government of this nation Christian.

This may sound amazing to a Christian, until you take into account the rest of the people of America. Suddenly, a Christian government is more harsh to the other religious opinions, and the American Experiment suffers. Furthermore, I feel Christianity is something best to be spread on a one-to-one basis; a government of Christianity would drown people in the scripture, and we'd lose many, many people sue to the unavoidable nature of the gospel in this nightmare scenario. It's as if you turn the lights on in a room of sleepers; the light harms them so much. 

This is simply a cautionary warning for my fellow Christians: Leave your political views on the sanctuary doorstep. If you must talk about politics, talk about the people themselves, not their party or affiliations. Keep the debate about ideals, not people. For all people are flawed; if it were a judgment call based on the merits of any candidate (of any race), I would be hard-pressed to judge. God cares not for the politics of humankind, thus you should try to follow in his example. Note the word, try. 

Simply the hastily-written report from a flawed man.