The first obstacle is what Scripture teaches about a Christian's
relationship to the state. In one of the best-known passages, Paul the
Apostle writes, "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities,
for there is no authority except that which God has established." (Romans
13:1) Is defying the law, no matter what political motivations were behind
it, submitting to such authority, or opposing it?
Obstacle number two has to do with the reason people attend worship
services. It is not, or should not be, in order to pledge allegiance to a
party, candidate or earthly agenda. One can spend inordinate amounts of time
on that subject simply by watching cable TV, or listening to talk radio, or
reading the newspapers. No matter how hard they try to protect the gospel
from corruption, ministers who focus on politics and politicians as a means
of redemption must minimize their ultimate calling and message. The road to
redemption does not run through Washington, D.C. Politicians can't redeem
themselves from the temptations of Washington. What makes anyone think they
can redeem the rest of us?
This pulpit rebellion also presumes that congregants lack a worldview or
knowledge about candidates and politics that only a pastor can address. In
my church, we have many highly educated people, Republicans and Democrats,
who would not take kindly to the pastor discoursing on politics anymore than
they would accept legal or medical advice from their auto mechanic.
The law has done churches a favor, however inadvertent, by protecting most
of them from the downside of electioneering, but a strong constitutional
challenge would most likely overturn it. The flip side would be whether the
politicians would then allow churches to maintain their tax-exempt status.
Whether the law is repealed, or not, churches and ministers would do better
to keep their attention focused on the things above, rather than the things
below, because politics can be the ultimate temptation and pollute a far
superior and life-changing message.