Top 10 Reasons for Pastors to Avoid Politics

Smellin Coffee said:
But I tell you, everyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Fool!' will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, You moron!' will be subject to hellfire.

That's not what it says, you moron!!    ;) :p
 
Tarheel Baptist said:
subllibrm said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
LongGone said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
Smellin Coffee said:
Top 10 Reasons for Pastors to Avoid Politics

10. Because no one trained you properly to get involved with politics—and a little seminar, however exciting, won’t make up for that yawning deficit. (Do you think politicians can be trained to be pastors by attending a seminar?)

9. Because no one hired you to get involved with politics. (And if they did, they shouldn’t have: See #10.)

8. Because pastors are supposed to call us toward the ideal and the ultimate, while politicians have to compromise over the real and the immediate.

7. Because the Scriptures (your main area of intellectual expertise—right?) are, at best, only suggestive and regulative over the field of politics (a quite different area of intellectual expertise—right? See #10 again).

6. Because you’ll alienate a considerable part of your constituency who see political matters differently, and will hold that difference against you, thus losing the benefits of your pastoral care and authority.

5. Because you need to consider the troubling fact that you’re not alienating a considerable part of your constituency, so why is your church so uniform in its politics?

4. Because governments come and go, and you need to reserve the sacred right to prophesy to whoever is in power.

3. Because politicians come and go, and you need to reserve the sacred right to comfort whoever is not, or no longer, in power.

2. Because politics brings out the worst in people, and you’re supposed to bring out the best in people.

1. Because politics brings out the worst in people, and unless you’re an exception (like Tommy Douglas), politics will bring out the worst in you.

What a crock!

Why?  We have built churches where only Republicans feel welcome

What a crock!

I wish it were.

My church has chased several families away because it is no haven for someone who doesn't toe the Rush/FOX line. I don't care what folks at church think about my politics but there have been some who couldn't stand the nasty comments and moved on.

FWIW I speak not of pastors and pulpits but potlucks and lobby conversations. Or SS discussions where Larry Loudmouth has to repeat that funny line he heard on Hannity this week. You know the guy. Can't think for himself but accuses those who disagree with him of being low information voters. So those who would see the gospel as more than lower tax rates move on to find a place where people are open to more than one opinion. Or are at least able to respect one different from their own.

So, naturally all churches and all Pastors should be silent on politics and political issues....like killing babies and undermining the Biblical concept of marriage.

Makes sense to me..... ::)

I don't have an issue with a Pastor speaking out on moral issues. The problem is when the church is aligned with a political point of view that purely political issues. The Catholic Church would agree with you on abortion and gay marriage but Catholic people are know do not feel they need to be aligned with Rush to fit into church.
 
cubanito said:
1- When the last national pro-life Democrat, Scoop Jackson retired he stated that he had not left the Democratic party, the Democratic party had left him. Then we had the spectacle of a tinly minority of Democratic congressmen helping pass Obamacare because, despite what the law clearly said, Obama had given them a personal reassurance. In my Church there is no political party preached or pushed from the pulpit. A pro-homicide Republican well feel just as unwelcome as the vast majority of Democrat politicians who are pro-homicide.

2- It is true that American Pastors during the revolution did indeed go against the Scriptures when preaching rebellion against England; just as many also twisted Scripture not much later to justify American slavery which was very different than that allowed for in the Bible.  I understand this undermines my point. Truth is not always convenient, and I will acknowledge it even if I wish it were not so.

3- There is however nothing wrong with pastors running for office, or urging people to vote on Biblical principles including the very first requirement to have any principles: life. We live in a representitive democracy where it is considered a civic duty to vote, and where redress of wrongs by the ballot box, including political office, is at least on paper encouraged. A pastor running for office is an exemplar of a good citizen. Where we under a Roman Empire or other tyrannical system, our duties may be different.

4- I'm breaking my 3 part routine to comment on the ABSURD statement that the IRS has been even handed politically. So far my attack has been at the comment, but I find it difficult to write any further without falling into ad hominem against the person who wrote it. How many emails were erased in covering up the IRS anti-tea party scandal?  All Govt burecrauts, but especially the IRS, have a vested interest in growing government.  If you believe the IRS is as sagacious investigating Jesse Jackson or the Clintons as say Glenn Beck or Jeb Bush you are ....you see, I can't write anymore, I'm losing it.

I will address #4. The employees who were guilty of poor judgement in the anti-tea party lost their jobs as would people in any line of work that make huge mistakes. You keep using Jesse Jackson but leave out all the conservative tele-evangelists that have abused their non-profit status with an extravagant life style without any inference from the IRS.
 
subllibrm said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
subllibrm said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
LongGone said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
Smellin Coffee said:
Top 10 Reasons for Pastors to Avoid Politics

10. Because no one trained you properly to get involved with politics—and a little seminar, however exciting, won’t make up for that yawning deficit. (Do you think politicians can be trained to be pastors by attending a seminar?)

9. Because no one hired you to get involved with politics. (And if they did, they shouldn’t have: See #10.)

8. Because pastors are supposed to call us toward the ideal and the ultimate, while politicians have to compromise over the real and the immediate.

7. Because the Scriptures (your main area of intellectual expertise—right?) are, at best, only suggestive and regulative over the field of politics (a quite different area of intellectual expertise—right? See #10 again).

6. Because you’ll alienate a considerable part of your constituency who see political matters differently, and will hold that difference against you, thus losing the benefits of your pastoral care and authority.

5. Because you need to consider the troubling fact that you’re not alienating a considerable part of your constituency, so why is your church so uniform in its politics?

4. Because governments come and go, and you need to reserve the sacred right to prophesy to whoever is in power.

3. Because politicians come and go, and you need to reserve the sacred right to comfort whoever is not, or no longer, in power.

2. Because politics brings out the worst in people, and you’re supposed to bring out the best in people.

1. Because politics brings out the worst in people, and unless you’re an exception (like Tommy Douglas), politics will bring out the worst in you.

What a crock!

Why?  We have built churches where only Republicans feel welcome

What a crock!

I wish it were.

My church has chased several families away because it is no haven for someone who doesn't toe the Rush/FOX line. I don't care what folks at church think about my politics but there have been some who couldn't stand the nasty comments and moved on.

FWIW I speak not of pastors and pulpits but potlucks and lobby conversations. Or SS discussions where Larry Loudmouth has to repeat that funny line he heard on Hannity this week. You know the guy. Can't think for himself but accuses those who disagree with him of being low information voters. So those who would see the gospel as more than lower tax rates move on to find a place where people are open to more than one opinion. Or are at least able to respect one different from their own.

So, naturally all churches and all Pastors should be silent on politics and political issues....like killing babies and undermining the Biblical concept of marriage.

Makes sense to me..... ::)

Wow, even you can be obtuse when you want.

I am talking about mean ,denigrating rhetoric. Feminazi. Blood suckers. Parasites. Wetbacks. Welfare queens. Sound familiar?

Also note that I specifically said it didn't come from the pulpit but from the Rush Limbaugh parrots. Now if that fits you then I suggest that you stop using FOX News and its ilk as your sermon outline source. I would no more want to hear Rush or Hannity regurgitated from the pulpit than to listen to man preach from a Time magazine article.

What should matter from the pulpit is that the pastor make it clear that denigrating another person's opinion is unacceptable within the body of Christ. Discuss and debate? Fine. Name calling and such have no place in the family of God.

Good post Sub.  There is no reason to alienate people over politics. And when  I say politics I'm talking things like global warming, economics, going to war, etc.  Good people can disagree and while many of us think we could use scripture to validate our views I don't think these are necessarily Biblical issues. Clearly abortion and homosexuality are and  should be taught with both conviction and grace. And yes, the pastor has to model it and speak into it occasionally. The cross is so much more than the ballot box.

It's interesting that as corrupt as the government in Rome was when Jesus was on earth we see very little of His actions or words directed there.
 
Just John said:
subllibrm said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
subllibrm said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
LongGone said:
Tarheel Baptist said:
Smellin Coffee said:
Top 10 Reasons for Pastors to Avoid Politics

10. Because no one trained you properly to get involved with politics—and a little seminar, however exciting, won’t make up for that yawning deficit. (Do you think politicians can be trained to be pastors by attending a seminar?)

9. Because no one hired you to get involved with politics. (And if they did, they shouldn’t have: See #10.)

8. Because pastors are supposed to call us toward the ideal and the ultimate, while politicians have to compromise over the real and the immediate.

7. Because the Scriptures (your main area of intellectual expertise—right?) are, at best, only suggestive and regulative over the field of politics (a quite different area of intellectual expertise—right? See #10 again).

6. Because you’ll alienate a considerable part of your constituency who see political matters differently, and will hold that difference against you, thus losing the benefits of your pastoral care and authority.

5. Because you need to consider the troubling fact that you’re not alienating a considerable part of your constituency, so why is your church so uniform in its politics?

4. Because governments come and go, and you need to reserve the sacred right to prophesy to whoever is in power.

3. Because politicians come and go, and you need to reserve the sacred right to comfort whoever is not, or no longer, in power.

2. Because politics brings out the worst in people, and you’re supposed to bring out the best in people.

1. Because politics brings out the worst in people, and unless you’re an exception (like Tommy Douglas), politics will bring out the worst in you.

What a crock!

Why?  We have built churches where only Republicans feel welcome

What a crock!

I wish it were.

My church has chased several families away because it is no haven for someone who doesn't toe the Rush/FOX line. I don't care what folks at church think about my politics but there have been some who couldn't stand the nasty comments and moved on.

FWIW I speak not of pastors and pulpits but potlucks and lobby conversations. Or SS discussions where Larry Loudmouth has to repeat that funny line he heard on Hannity this week. You know the guy. Can't think for himself but accuses those who disagree with him of being low information voters. So those who would see the gospel as more than lower tax rates move on to find a place where people are open to more than one opinion. Or are at least able to respect one different from their own.

So, naturally all churches and all Pastors should be silent on politics and political issues....like killing babies and undermining the Biblical concept of marriage.

Makes sense to me..... ::)

Wow, even you can be obtuse when you want.

I am talking about mean ,denigrating rhetoric. Feminazi. Blood suckers. Parasites. Wetbacks. Welfare queens. Sound familiar?

Also note that I specifically said it didn't come from the pulpit but from the Rush Limbaugh parrots. Now if that fits you then I suggest that you stop using FOX News and its ilk as your sermon outline source. I would no more want to hear Rush or Hannity regurgitated from the pulpit than to listen to man preach from a Time magazine article.

What should matter from the pulpit is that the pastor make it clear that denigrating another person's opinion is unacceptable within the body of Christ. Discuss and debate? Fine. Name calling and such have no place in the family of God.

Good post Sub.  There is no reason to alienate people over politics. And when  I say politics I'm talking things like global warming, economics, going to war, etc.  Good people can disagree and while many of us think we could use scripture to validate our views I don't think these are necessarily Biblical issues. Clearly abortion and homosexuality are and  should be taught with both conviction and grace. And yes, the pastor has to model it and speak into it occasionally. The cross is so much more than the ballot box.

It's interesting that as corrupt as the government in Rome was when Jesus was on earth we see very little of His actions or words directed there.

I certainly appreciate the fact that I, as a Pastor can occasionally speak on a Biblical, moral issue that our culture bombards us with on a daily basis. Im sure Jerry is somehow resting easier if he knows about this post as well.

And, that 'the  cross is so much more than a ballot box' is a thought that has probably escaped most evangelical Pastors who don't feel neutered when it comes to Biblical, moral issues. They were probably assuming that the ballot box was their primary calling....whatever that even means!
 
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