I remember when astronauts landed on the moon. I listened to music on records, eight tracks, cassettes, CDs, and MP3 players. I put $5 worth of gas in the car and drove all weekend on it. I saw “Star Wars: A New Hope” in the theater on opening night. Relevant to our current situation, I recall a time when presidential election cycles came around just once every four years.
Today, however, it seems like one presidential election ends on a Tuesday in November and campaigning for the next one starts on Wednesday. We’re stuck in an endless loop of political diatribes, dust-ups, and donnybrooks. Thus, pastors need to rethink how they guide their flocks through the minefields of the political pasture.
The answer is not another sermon in October from Romans 13 and Paul’s admonition to submit to the governing authorities. The solution is not another season of prayer the Wednesday before the polls open. These are things we ought to be doing, but if it’s October and we’re just now getting around to them, it’s too late.
Just as the political cycle has become 24/7/365, so too should our attention to matters related to it.
No, I’m not calling for endless rounds of sermons about politics. As a pastor, I know the gospel is our primary concern and our people can’t hear it too often or think about it too much. I feel the burden of trying to teach my people the Bible and the depths of riches it contains and never feeling like there’s enough time to do it well. Our church calendars are already full.
So, what is the solution? How can we do more to help our people think Christianly about politics and the issues it brings up without adding to the seemingly impossible task of shepherding our people well or giving up something eternally important for things seemingly temporary?
The answer lies in Jesus’s command to make disciples (Matt. 28:19–20). We need to teach our people all that Jesus commanded and help them understand how to obey those things. We must take every opportunity to use the Bible to shape their thoughts and mold their worldviews so that when elections roll around again, their ballot decisions are shaped not by the pastor’s opinion or the pundits’ rantings but by the Word of God. We don’t need to help them think about the issues. We need to help them think like the Lord, 24/7/365.
How do we do that? Where do we begin? How can we help our people connect these eternal truths to political matters?
We must begin with Jesus’ explanation of the two greatest commands in all of Scripture: Love the Lord our God and love our neighbors (Matt. 22:37–39). These two edicts apply to more than worship and ministry. They apply to everything, including politics. How we vote reflects our understanding of these two fundamental laws. In fact, how we vote directly impacts how we love our neighbors. We vote not just to exercise our right or shape our culture. We vote to improve the lives of our neighbors and bless the world around us. It’s our spiritual responsibility, not just our civic duty.
The same could be said of the biblical admonition to care for the widows and orphans (James 1:27 and Isa. 1:17). Many of our churches are doing this well in providing for the physical needs of our senior citizens, and more and more churches are recognizing the importance of supporting and promoting adoption and foster care as the true outworking of a pro-life stance.
As with the two greatest commands, this command has political implications as well. Things like Medicare and Social Security are impacted by our political decisions and impact our widows and widowers directly. The entire abortion debate touches upon the heart of the command to care for the orphans — not because many more orphans might be the result of the reversal of Roe v. Wade, but because we are called to defend and care for those who cannot fend for themselves, outside of the womb or in.
The Bible abounds with practical and political truths that speak to the issues of our day just as they did in Moses’ or Paul’s. The challenge is getting them before a generation that, on average, attends church less than three times per month. Difficult or not, we are commanded to preach the Word in season and out (2 Tim. 4:2). If we’re faithful in that, we can leave the results to God (Isa. 55:11).
If you’re blessed with a congregation that thrives on the Word, who want to mine the deeper eternal truths of Scripture, there are other things churches can do to prepare their congregations for the first Tuesday in November.
Following the pattern set by our Puritan forebears, my church still meets on most Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. I use the Sunday evening gathering to teach my people theology, church history, or even basic Bible interpretation skills.
Periodically, I offer an extended 10-week season of study on things like the Christian worldview or even the Christian foundations of the U.S. Constitution. We talk about elections, issues, and the way our system highlights both the sinfulness of man and the goodness of God. Contrary to the assumption of many, my people love these kinds of studies and can’t wait for the next one.
Our Wednesday night services are dedicated to prayer for our congregation, our family and family friends, our neighborhood, and world. This, too, gives us an opportunity in the natural ebb and flow of our church life to think about and pray through things that matter today and into eternity. After we pray, we spend the rest of the hour digging in deeper than Sunday mornings allow. This presents the chance to connect ancient texts with modern concerns. In doing so, we teach God’s people the importance of His Word in every arena of their lives.
Whether we’re talking about Sunday morning sermons or Wednesday evening services, at the end of the day, we need to remember these are universal truths and they apply to our present problems. We must teach them to our people and connect them to our politics. We need to remind them that our choices in November impact more people than ourselves — our choices touch upon eternity, too.
— Peter Beck serves as professor of Christian Studies, the Ott Chair of Christian Theology, and director of the Honors Program at Charleston Southern University. He has more than 15 years of pastoral experience and currently serves as lead pastor of Doorway Baptist Church in North Charleston.