Thread by @dpcassidyC3

Church Leaders/Pastors in the US have a very difficult challenge in helping congregations navigate the swirling political waters. How to help?
1. Keep pointing people to Christ. Scripture reveals him and directs us to proclaim him. Pastors aren't pundits but prophets. So...

...don't make the political issue/s the subject of the message. Make the beauty and love of Christ the only possible answer to the idols of politics, and the glorious splendor of his Kingdom the only possible way for our desires to be fully realized.

2. Point out that subordinate loves become idols when we ascribe to them the devotion and passion that belongs to Christ alone. Idols will always fail to give life but will not fail to kill. Summon God's people to their first love. It's critical to get disordered loves in line.

3. Lead in repentance. To urge people to receive the gift of repentance will require deep repentance in our own hearts. When we see Jesus banners and Bibles in the violent scenes from the Capitol, we have to repent of the Church's failure to disciple people in the Faith and...

... and false preaching. If you say, "I didn't do that", you might be right - and I salute you - but these terrible failures & sins are the sins of the Church and this Church is US! Like it or not, we are in the community whose members perpetrated these horrors. Let's own it.

4. Teach the Kingdom of God with a proper view of the way indwelling sin works in persons and institutions, including people of Faith. Reconstructionism and Dominion theology is an error and leads directly to this kind of theocratic violence dressed in the uniform of patriotism.

5. Read Matthew 25 and take it seriously. If you've taught that there's only one litmus test of orthodoxy and that violating it invites national judgment, you are wrong. The care of the poor & other matters cannot be separated from the judgment of the last day.

6. Love people again. Stop making everything an 'Us vs. Them' scenario and stoking fear of others a hallmark of your conversation and ministry. Perfect love casts out fear and the love of God summons us to the service of all people. Respect the breadth of political viewpoint.

7. Pray for those in authority. As a child, I prayed every Sunday for the President and others in civil offices as part of the weekly liturgy. This is a common practice in the ancient Church and the contemporary church needs to make it common again. Why?

First, because Scripture urges this upon us. Practically, one cannot long despise those for whom one regularly prays. Cultivating peace in our souls through prayer for others teaches us to be supremely concerned for something more than politics. Prayer delivers us from idols.

Am I saying we should ignore critical social issues? No. We cannot and must not. But all such issues should be presented within the wider context of Christ's Lordship and Love, together with the Church's primary mission of sharing Christ with everyone everywhere.

In the future, avoid political endorsements. I’ve written repeatedly that Pastors & other Church Agency leaders must avoid this practice. It is arrogant and unnecessary. Politicians crave endorsements but they divide churches. Preach. Teach. Pastor. Pray. Lead. Don’t endorse.