Recent events have raised the issue, Should the
pulpit always avoid politics? It depends on what
we mean by "politics;" it demeans the pulpit to
use it for partisan politics. But here are ten
reasons why I don't think politics and religion
should (or even can) be completely separate:

1) The Word of God has something to say about
all of life, beyond just the spiritual.
My long-time pastor, Dr. D. James Kennedy, once
noted that the Church of Jesus Christ has always
been opposed to abortion---from the very
beginning. It still is.
In the last generation, abortion has become a
"political" issue. Does that mean, asked Dr.
Kennedy, we should now ignore it in the pulpit?
No, because the Bible is pro-life.

2) The Bible itself addresses the issue of
governing in different texts.
There are biblical books dealing with political
rulers---1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Judges.
In Genesis and in Daniel, we see godly men
serving well in pagan courts, for the good of all.
In Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, we hear that God
has established the civil magistrate, and we are
to obey the government. In Exodus, we see Moses
rebuking Pharaoh for mistreating the Hebrews.

3) The Scriptures also teach that on occasion,
there may be a need for civil disobedience.
When the apostles were commanded to no longer
preach the gospel, Peter said that we must obey
God rather than man. If there is an either/or, then
civil disobedience can be the right path. Many
early Christians died for Christ rather than
worship the emperor, clearly a false god.

4) Jesus said, "Render to Caesar the things that
are Caesar's, and to God the things that are
God's."
Nature abhors a vacuum. Someone will be
involved in politics. Why should we abandon our
role as citizens? According to Jesus, we have a
positive duty to render certain obligation to the
state.

5) When the Church does not speak out, evil can
fill that void.
Silence in the face of evil can signal assent. We
hold up those Christians who went against Hitler
and the Nazis as heroes---not the millions who
acquiesced to them.

5) When the Church does not speak out, evil can
fill that void.
Silence in the face of evil can signal assent. We
hold up those Christians who went against Hitler
and the Nazis as heroes---not the millions who
acquiesced to them

6) The Church is called to be salt and light. Salt
preserves and prevents decay.
Christians in society should help prevent
corruption. As goes the pulpit, so goes the nation.

7) We pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven."
That doesn't mean we should try and force the
kingdom of God by use of the sword. When
"Christians" did that in times past, we are still
apologizing for it, as in the Crusades, the
Inquisition, the Salem Witchcraft trials. But it
does mean that Christians can apply biblical
principles to government that result in good for
all of us. And to be sure, someone's morality is
always being legislated. It is not a question of
"if," but of "what" and of "whose."

Christians bless everybody when we properly
apply our faith to politics.
Our Constitution was an outgrowth of the biblical
concept of covenant. University of Houston
Professor Dr. Donald S. Lutz, author of The
Origins of American Constitutionalism , said that
Americans "invented modern Constitutionalism
and bequeathed it to the world." And where did
we get it? Says Lutz: "The American
constitutional tradition derives in much of its form
and content from the Judeo-Christian tradition as
interpreted by the radical Protestant sects to
which belonged so many of the original European
settlers in British North America."

9) Politics may be the calling of some in the
congregation. Therefore, ministers should
encourage political involvement that is motivated
by the desire to serve.
When the Member of Parliament William
Wilberforce was converted in the 1780s, he
sought counsel from Rev. John Newton, an ex-
slave-trader. Should he leave politics and pursue
the ministry? Newton advised him to stay
because maybe God could use him where he was.
Wilberforce's crusade to free the slaves in the
British Empire took him 50 years and was a direct
outgrowth of his faith in Christ. I shudder to think
if one of today's "no politics" ministers had
counseled the young reborn Wilberforce. We might
still have legal slavery in the Western world.

10) Religion and morality are "indispensable
supports to our political prosperity."
So said Washington in his Farewell Address. John
Adams said, "Our Constitution was made only for
a moral and religious people. It is wholly
inadequate to the government of any other." This
was in a day when about 99% of the Americans
were professing Christians.

K