This election season, don’t listen to your pastor

“No candidate will save us, only Jesus.” “God’s got this.” “Prayer is the best thing we can do.” “Put your faith in God, not the government.”

We have all heard these quips, or similar refrains. Most of us only hear these messages from our pastors regarding politics. It is too much for a pastor to tell their congregations to go vote for righteous policy, much less identify those candidates who stand for those policies. They simply will not “go there.”

Admittedly, the phrases above are not wrong. God is in control. Prayer is effective. But these sermons simply do not go far enough. They do not equip their congregations with the tools necessary for the Church to be impactful in the political arena.

The trouble is, the political arena is as an impactful arena in our daily lives as anything else. It is literally life and death. The number of abortions that happen is directly impacted by who holds office. The number of people who die in war is directly impacted. The ability to feed our families. The safety of our friends and neighbors. And, yes, even the ability to have the Gospel spread is impacted in an environment where one political party is hostile to the Gospel.

It is hard to understand, then, why pastors would virtually neglect the political realm. And it is not biblical. God charged Israel, with regard to Babylon, to “seek the prosperity of the city” and to “pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7). We are charged to “seek justice [and] correct oppression” (Isaiah 1:17). “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3-4).

These messages are clear. The Church is to become involved and to seek justice. It is an act designed to care for those who are vulnerable. In a democratic system of governance, the Church mobilizing and voting correctly could end many of the evils that result from bad policy.

With that established, it is a pastor’s duty to equip a congregation. God gave us “pastors … to equip his people … so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:11-12). The entire purpose is so that God’s people are not “tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming” (Ephesians 4:14).

But many pastors don’t equip their congregations. They want to pray about it and recognize God’s sovereignty, but then wash their hands of it. The problem is congregations follow that lead. Many Christians end up making claims that “both parties are the same” in justifying not voting or voting incorrectly. But this is not true. One party stands for the unborn. The other does not. One side stands for unethical gender and sexual ideology. The other does not. The fact that congregations are divided in thought on how to vote is direct evidence of the fact that their pastor has not challenged them or equipped them sufficiently. The pastoral neglect of politics has resulted in their congregations falling for the craftiness and deceitful scheming of the world, just as Paul predicted.

With regard to prayer, these pastors are misusing that solution. Yes, prayer is what we should do, just as God told Israel when living in Babylon. But prayer should be done with action in mind. We should all take Esther’s lead. Esther, when her husband the King, was pursuing unrighteous policy, first went to the Lord through fasting, then went to the King(Esther 4). This is what the church must do too: first go to the Lord, then act. Prayer should be done with a heart of seeking guidance. It is not a way to absolve oneself from doing something.

It is also not enough for pastors to simply give sermons on ethical issues such as abortion, sexuality, etc. These pastors are actually better than most. But the Church needs to be motivated to do something about these issues. Again, praying to end abortion is not enough when there is a tool (voting) at the Church’s disposal that offers solutions. 

If your pastor has a laissez-faire attitude toward the political arena, do not take his lead. The Church must do a better job of identifying what is righteous and which candidates and party will further righteous policy. And then vote accordingly. Your family, neighbors, and the vulnerable can be protected if the Church simply mobilizes, votes, and votes correctly.