Dr Watson, I believe the substance of this post is quite timely, being that we’re about to be in the midst of a typically raucous election cycle. Personally, I think the root cause of Charlie Kirks’ criticism of Evangelical pastor’s reluctance to preach political messages is due to his, as well as others ability, to accept that the era of Christendom has come to its conclusion. Unfortunately both the progressive and conservative wings of Christianity have tried to use the State to facilitate their own perception of the Kingdom of God. The fact that Jesus made it abundantly clear that his kingdom was not of this world seems to have fallen on deaf ears. If we truly want a Godly nation, then earnestly making true disciples who will both live out, and vote for Godly values, is our only option.
This is a tough one. All laws are based on someone's morality, hence getting into the political fray. However, there are many parts to the body. Some pastors are called to it, others are called to a different focus. All are called to teach the gospel with fidelity. To judge someone else's servant is a dangerous game to play. May we all live in the faith with integrity and have grace for our own spiritual family.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ, is not a culture war, it is not inalienable rights for anyone, it is that He gives the possibility of making us willing to love and humble ourselves to Him and the things He has Personally said, done, and discussed, in order that our soul and spirit may go a different way than our flesh.
When I came to Christ, I could find no pastor willing to bear the things Christ the Lord has Personally said, done, and discussed. Instead they pushed people into culture war of this world for which violence is now commonly discussed. We can do good to read the first few chapters of Revelation, to find out why so many churches have closed recently, and why I know of two different churches in which their pastors have brandished military weapons from the pulpit.
Love of God, love of neighbor. If you cannot shower compassion on those who are caught in snares of this culture, you should not battle. Their hearts are eternal as much as mine and yours. Truth should be spoken with as much compassion as conviction.
The greatest tragedy for orthodox Christians in our time is the enmeshment of partisan politics with the gospel. Yes, we should take a position on issues based on conscience, but we must not be ensnared in a political tribe.
Thank you for this. Amen. The struggle is to be political but not partisan—to challenge the people that are before you, comfort them where they are afflicted, afflict them where they are comfortable, as the old saying says. I think pastors/Christian writers lose so much moral authority when they become partisan hacks (Eric Metaxis comes to mind as someone who seemed to lose his way). It seems to me that the problem is in the formation of our moral and political imagination. We cannot imagine a world beyond the political binary, because we are allowing ourselves to be discipled by those who benefit from that kind of narrow thinking
Kirk seems to echo Eric Metaxas’ book Letter to the American Church criticizing pastors. Thank you for your defense of our work. Certainly, I am no perfect pastor but the call is strong and the road is long.
Our silence as committed disciples of Jesus Christ is critically destructive to our witness to the Gospel. Thank you for boldly speaking out the truth and confronting the untruths of Charlie Kirk. You are an Amos to our nation!
David, thank you for standing up for the day-to-day pastor who keeps serving the Kingdom in this Babylon world. I pray and trust God’s guidance to live into that category, and your words are an encouragement to keep waking the narrow Way.
As a missionary in Africa I’m super encouraged by your post! So glad we aren’t out here on an island thinking the same as you when we see these wild statements by ‘leaders’ in the church in our own country that should actually be walking as ‘priests’ with a view of the whole world and not just their own tiny ones
Glad you're writing, David. It is Christ the Lord, where worthwhile obedience is today. We need to bear, be, and do the things He Personally spoke, did, and discussed, as He makes possible. All else does not deserve His Name.
I have often found Kirk to be unnecessarily hostile, and there is something about his demeanor that I find off-putting. Even so, I find myself more sympathetic to his points than many. The radical drift leftward in this country happened on the watch of pastors, far too many of whom were not nearly vocal enough to warn about what was coming. Most chose to see politics and something external to faith, giving sermons and speaking publicly in ways that made way for a latitudinarian approach to civic involvement. Pastors, tasked with guarding their flocks and ensuring covenant faithfulness, have often been happy enough drawing a paycheck and being nice to their people. Too few have been on board with spiritual warfare and being hated by the world. Had there been more pastors pushing back against the culture, I think we would be living in a different culture right now. Kirk is probably more sympathetic to the sort of theocracy that some Christian Nationalism espouses than you and I are. Even so, when you volunteer in your article that the Christian faith does indeed have political implications, then I think the question is germane: Why haven't Christians been more uniform and forceful about the political implications of our faith? There are many possible answers. One is that pastors haven't done their jobs very well.
Consider another situation: The church has been in significant decline for decades in America. I have grown up in a church full of clergy coping with the self-evident failure of the church by continuing to tell the stories of things they feel good about. "Well, maybe things aren't going the right direction, but I was able to show the love of Jesus by doing ________ this week." It's like my kid making excuses for himself at the end of the night: "I didn't get ALL my chores done, but I DID do the dishes." Well, we don't get to pick and choose our load. In ages of spiritual warfare, clergy have to do war. We have too many peacetime Christians in an age of war, anyways, resulting in civilian/spectator congregations rather than praying/warring congregations.
While I would not have them look like Charlie Kirk, I would have the general flavor of clergy be more bellicose towards the trends of this world, less tolerant of compromise, more zealous in correcting sin. While I'm sure Kirk's exegesis was lacking, Elijah was a righteous prophet that was indeed quite bellicose. It might do us well to look at his example more seriously.
Another question: what do you say to someone like Dietrich Bonhoeffer or William Wilberforce as they stood up against the rulers of their day to fight against injustice and evil?
I personally would not compare Kirk to Bonhoeffer or Wilberforce. He is not in their league. My point in this post is not that pastors shouldn't speak out about social evils, but that calling pastors a joke because they ar enot political in the way he'd prefer is ridiculous.
Thank you for your insight. It is very hard in our "global" world to truly know the hearts and intents of each man. If the days of Hitler, Mao and Pol Pot and others were bad, perhaps today is even worse. I agree with you other offering this week about humility. God help us.
A question please: there is evidence the pastors during the time of the American Revolution spoke out against the tyranny of the King and his rule. Were they wrong? Was our whole country founded wrongly?
I don't think there was anything wrong with speaking out against tyranny, though John Wesley definitely cited with England during the American Revolution.
I like comment on your other post. Can you make it where it reads to you.like this one. Its things I look for when driving.
I will say I'm not familiar with kirk. I am familiar with the church not preaching the word. Afraid to offend someone. If we would preach the true word, we would not need to preach political things in the church. Our morals is what has been decadeing. If we live in the morals of God's kingdom we be focused on doing ministry for the lost. We have neglected the word for so long we are a mess in laws we have voted in. Not based on God but self. We can not make self a God with out consequences. If we all vote for righteous values we be on the right road. I vote base on the moral of the word. If they lie to get my vote. I bring it up to the lord. Ask him to remove the lie.
Dr Watson, I believe the substance of this post is quite timely, being that we’re about to be in the midst of a typically raucous election cycle. Personally, I think the root cause of Charlie Kirks’ criticism of Evangelical pastor’s reluctance to preach political messages is due to his, as well as others ability, to accept that the era of Christendom has come to its conclusion. Unfortunately both the progressive and conservative wings of Christianity have tried to use the State to facilitate their own perception of the Kingdom of God. The fact that Jesus made it abundantly clear that his kingdom was not of this world seems to have fallen on deaf ears. If we truly want a Godly nation, then earnestly making true disciples who will both live out, and vote for Godly values, is our only option.
This is a tough one. All laws are based on someone's morality, hence getting into the political fray. However, there are many parts to the body. Some pastors are called to it, others are called to a different focus. All are called to teach the gospel with fidelity. To judge someone else's servant is a dangerous game to play. May we all live in the faith with integrity and have grace for our own spiritual family.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ, is not a culture war, it is not inalienable rights for anyone, it is that He gives the possibility of making us willing to love and humble ourselves to Him and the things He has Personally said, done, and discussed, in order that our soul and spirit may go a different way than our flesh.
When I came to Christ, I could find no pastor willing to bear the things Christ the Lord has Personally said, done, and discussed. Instead they pushed people into culture war of this world for which violence is now commonly discussed. We can do good to read the first few chapters of Revelation, to find out why so many churches have closed recently, and why I know of two different churches in which their pastors have brandished military weapons from the pulpit.
That is terrible. Anything done must always be done with love.
Ah, but love of what or who? Love of much of this world, motivates much violence.
Love of God, love of neighbor. If you cannot shower compassion on those who are caught in snares of this culture, you should not battle. Their hearts are eternal as much as mine and yours. Truth should be spoken with as much compassion as conviction.
The greatest tragedy for orthodox Christians in our time is the enmeshment of partisan politics with the gospel. Yes, we should take a position on issues based on conscience, but we must not be ensnared in a political tribe.
Excellent message.
Thank you for this. Amen. The struggle is to be political but not partisan—to challenge the people that are before you, comfort them where they are afflicted, afflict them where they are comfortable, as the old saying says. I think pastors/Christian writers lose so much moral authority when they become partisan hacks (Eric Metaxis comes to mind as someone who seemed to lose his way). It seems to me that the problem is in the formation of our moral and political imagination. We cannot imagine a world beyond the political binary, because we are allowing ourselves to be discipled by those who benefit from that kind of narrow thinking
Kirk seems to echo Eric Metaxas’ book Letter to the American Church criticizing pastors. Thank you for your defense of our work. Certainly, I am no perfect pastor but the call is strong and the road is long.
Our silence as committed disciples of Jesus Christ is critically destructive to our witness to the Gospel. Thank you for boldly speaking out the truth and confronting the untruths of Charlie Kirk. You are an Amos to our nation!
Thank you for this
David, thank you for standing up for the day-to-day pastor who keeps serving the Kingdom in this Babylon world. I pray and trust God’s guidance to live into that category, and your words are an encouragement to keep waking the narrow Way.
As a missionary in Africa I’m super encouraged by your post! So glad we aren’t out here on an island thinking the same as you when we see these wild statements by ‘leaders’ in the church in our own country that should actually be walking as ‘priests’ with a view of the whole world and not just their own tiny ones
Glad you're writing, David. It is Christ the Lord, where worthwhile obedience is today. We need to bear, be, and do the things He Personally spoke, did, and discussed, as He makes possible. All else does not deserve His Name.
Great [redacted] article, brother! I’ve been sharing similar frustrations.
I have often found Kirk to be unnecessarily hostile, and there is something about his demeanor that I find off-putting. Even so, I find myself more sympathetic to his points than many. The radical drift leftward in this country happened on the watch of pastors, far too many of whom were not nearly vocal enough to warn about what was coming. Most chose to see politics and something external to faith, giving sermons and speaking publicly in ways that made way for a latitudinarian approach to civic involvement. Pastors, tasked with guarding their flocks and ensuring covenant faithfulness, have often been happy enough drawing a paycheck and being nice to their people. Too few have been on board with spiritual warfare and being hated by the world. Had there been more pastors pushing back against the culture, I think we would be living in a different culture right now. Kirk is probably more sympathetic to the sort of theocracy that some Christian Nationalism espouses than you and I are. Even so, when you volunteer in your article that the Christian faith does indeed have political implications, then I think the question is germane: Why haven't Christians been more uniform and forceful about the political implications of our faith? There are many possible answers. One is that pastors haven't done their jobs very well.
Consider another situation: The church has been in significant decline for decades in America. I have grown up in a church full of clergy coping with the self-evident failure of the church by continuing to tell the stories of things they feel good about. "Well, maybe things aren't going the right direction, but I was able to show the love of Jesus by doing ________ this week." It's like my kid making excuses for himself at the end of the night: "I didn't get ALL my chores done, but I DID do the dishes." Well, we don't get to pick and choose our load. In ages of spiritual warfare, clergy have to do war. We have too many peacetime Christians in an age of war, anyways, resulting in civilian/spectator congregations rather than praying/warring congregations.
While I would not have them look like Charlie Kirk, I would have the general flavor of clergy be more bellicose towards the trends of this world, less tolerant of compromise, more zealous in correcting sin. While I'm sure Kirk's exegesis was lacking, Elijah was a righteous prophet that was indeed quite bellicose. It might do us well to look at his example more seriously.
I hear you. I guess this is a more bellicose offering on my part.
I like when Dr. Watson gets bellicose!
😂
Another question: what do you say to someone like Dietrich Bonhoeffer or William Wilberforce as they stood up against the rulers of their day to fight against injustice and evil?
I personally would not compare Kirk to Bonhoeffer or Wilberforce. He is not in their league. My point in this post is not that pastors shouldn't speak out about social evils, but that calling pastors a joke because they ar enot political in the way he'd prefer is ridiculous.
Thank you for your insight. It is very hard in our "global" world to truly know the hearts and intents of each man. If the days of Hitler, Mao and Pol Pot and others were bad, perhaps today is even worse. I agree with you other offering this week about humility. God help us.
A question please: there is evidence the pastors during the time of the American Revolution spoke out against the tyranny of the King and his rule. Were they wrong? Was our whole country founded wrongly?
I don't think there was anything wrong with speaking out against tyranny, though John Wesley definitely cited with England during the American Revolution.
I like comment on your other post. Can you make it where it reads to you.like this one. Its things I look for when driving.
I will say I'm not familiar with kirk. I am familiar with the church not preaching the word. Afraid to offend someone. If we would preach the true word, we would not need to preach political things in the church. Our morals is what has been decadeing. If we live in the morals of God's kingdom we be focused on doing ministry for the lost. We have neglected the word for so long we are a mess in laws we have voted in. Not based on God but self. We can not make self a God with out consequences. If we all vote for righteous values we be on the right road. I vote base on the moral of the word. If they lie to get my vote. I bring it up to the lord. Ask him to remove the lie.
Hello David. I just tackled access with a fresh mind and wanted you to know I am on board.