Shutterstock
Church and State
Shutterstock Photo
"I love your writing, but I wish you wouldn't get political."
I suspect many pastors have experienced words like these on Sunday mornings. Often received alongside gratitude for writing about something important, the whiplash is real.
Many of us are guilty of seeing something as political when we don't like it. We accept that politics are "bad" and only define something as political when the message represents a point of view we don't appreciate.
I noticed something similar happening after the presidential debate on Tuesday. If you liked Vice President Harris, you appreciated the moderators' attempts to fact-check the most egregious lies former President Trump told. If you supported President Trump, you were more inclined to see this as the "liberal media" ganging up on him unfairly.
Whether we like them or not, politics are inescapable. Fundamentally, politics is how any group of human beings resolve conflict. And while there are good politics and bad politics, there is no such thing as no politics. Deciding to avoid touchy subjects, as some parishioners might prefer, is a political decision. That decision allows those with power to remain comfortable at the expense of another.
When ABC debate moderator David Muir fact-checked the former president on his disputed story about Haitian immigrants eating people's pets in Springfield, Ohio, I suspect they knew people would view their work as partisan. As journalists, however, they also would be faulted for not attending to the primary task of pursuing truth (especially when those lies are causing harm to real people).
As Christians, we are also supposed to pursue and uphold the truth, even when it is uncomfortable. Our Church history holds many tales of deplorable actions (like Boarding Schools), and today, efforts to shine light are often met with anger.
When I read the Gospels, I encounter a Jesus who was not afraid of being political. The more you study the cultural setting he walked within, the clearer those politics become.
Yet, Jesus' politics were different from what we often experience today. His politics were for those that society overlooked, dismissed, and oppressed. Jesus didn't score cheap points at the expense of the vulnerable. When he threw a verbal punch, it was toward those who held power, and even then, he offered grace for those willing to listen and repent.
As we approach the election, may we find ways to practice politics like Jesus. Let us seek to listen deeply to others so that hearts and minds (including ours) can be transformed. May we be emboldened to align ourselves with the voices of those marginalized and oppressed so that no child of God is left dehumanized and powerless.
Patrick Scriven
Patrick Scriven
Patrick Scriven serves as Director of Communications for the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. This post is republished with permission from the conference newsletter.