• Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

Pulpit and politics

M

matt wade

Well-Known Member
Where is the Biblical command that a pastor can't talk politics from the pulpit? I have no problem if my pastor gets up and says to not vote for so and so because they support abortion or the homosexual agenda or any other issue that is against Biblical principles.
 
J

Johnv

New Member
Is a biblical command required to exist for it to be considered inappropriate for the forum at hand?
 
Tom Bryant

Tom Bryant

Well-Known Member
I don't think there is a Biblical command to not talk about politics from the pulpit. I don't mention political personalities from the pulpit, except of course, to make fun of them. But I do talk about moral issues like the ones you mentioned as homosexual marriage or abortion.

I do this because I feel like we would have had at least some mention of it in the NT with the Ceasar providing continual decisions to preach against.

I only have a certain amount of influence available as a pastor and I am not going to waste it on mere politicians when I can spend it on getting people to speak to their unsaved neighbors about Jesus.
 
M

matt wade

Well-Known Member
Johnv said:
Is a biblical command required to exist for it to be considered inappropriate for the forum at hand?
Click to expand...

Why is it inappropriate to tell the members of a congregation that a particular politician supports murder, homosexuals, or any other sin and it would be wise to not vote for them?
 
J

just-want-peace

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Issues, if dealt with biblically, negate the necessity of mentioning a specific name, which I am opposed to anyway, simply because if you name names in this "political" instance, you are going to make some/many parishioners mad at you, and any positive influence that you may have had is gone; possibly never to return

This board is a good example of this concept - you can get members to agree often on "issues" as long as their favorite politician is not directly confronted.

Once a name is associated, then the fury begins, and any reason & logic is dead.

Also, if the issues are not biblically addressed either by direct application or strong implication, they should probably not be addresses from the pulpit.

There my be some exception to this concept, but as of now I can think of none; I'm open to change though.
 
Salty

Salty

20,000 Posts Club
Administrator
NOTE: This thread is not about a pastor talking about abortion and homsexu@lity.

It was meant to be more of a straight political nature.

Example:
Curfews for teens
English as the official language
Re-districting for representation
School uniforms ( public schools)
War involvement - Support or non-support

Thanks in advance
and now back to the intended purpose of this thread
 
Salty

Salty

20,000 Posts Club
Administrator
matt wade said:
Well, like it or not, abortion and and the homosexual agenda are part of our modern day politics.
Click to expand...

I fully realize that (duh) and I would expect a pastor to preach against those sins. In fact, if a preacher did not, I would probably find another church.

THIS THREAD IS ABOUT NON-MORALITY POLITICS FROM THE PULPIT.

PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC!
 
M

matt wade

Well-Known Member
SALTCITYBAPTIST said:
I fully realize that (duh) and I would expect a pastor to preach against those sins. In fact, if a preacher did not, I would probably find another church.

THIS THREAD IS ABOUT NON-MORALITY POLITICS FROM THE PULPIT.

PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC!
Click to expand...

No need to yell about it.

There was nothing in your OP to indicate the we were talking about non-morality politics. In fact, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw your example (The Governor should be removed from office because of this bill he signed...) was issues of morality. That's normally what I would expect a preacher to preach from the pulpit and would have no issue mixing messages of morality with politics, even going so far as to call out individual politicians about their immorality.
 
F

FR7 Baptist

Active Member
matt wade said:
No need to yell about it.

There was nothing in your OP to indicate the we were talking about non-morality politics. In fact, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw your example (The Governor should be removed from office because of this bill he signed...) was issues of morality. That's normally what I would expect a preacher to preach from the pulpit and would have no issue mixing messages of morality with politics, even going so far as to call out individual politicians about their immorality.
Click to expand...

When it comes to non-morality politics, the psator should NOT speak about it from the pulpit because there is no overlap between the governmental and church areas. On morality issues, the pastor should speak on the moral aspects but not endorse or tell people not to vote for someone. (If my pastor tried to tell me who to vote for, he'd have some "unkind words" after church.)

Keep in mind that most people aren't single-issue voters. For example, even though I agree with the Republicans on abortion, I'm not going to vote for them because of the last eight years.
 
B

blackbird

Active Member
I tell my people from the pulpit

Now----here are the issues---here is where each candidate stands

Take a look at the issues---study them---study the candidates and then----don't vote YOUR convictions----------your convictions and my conviction cannot be trusted

Vote the convictions of the Lord Jesus Christ

By the way-----everywhere Jesus went---He went behind a pulpit(figuratively, of course)--------every word Jesus spoke He spoke from a pulpit-----He lived His life behind a pulpit----He wouldn't utter a word unless He had heard from His Father in Heaven----keep that in mind when I say this


One day-----Jesus was walking along behind His pulpit---and from behind His pulpit He called Herod a "Fox"

He mixed politics and religion from His pulpit---why can't I?? Whos to stop me????
 
Salty

Salty

20,000 Posts Club
Administrator
So will preachers be starting on (non-morality) politics as this election season heats up?
 
G

gb93433

Active Member
Site Supporter
Jesus called men as his followers who were on opposite sides of the fence politically. So where does that put a political preacher?
 
preachinjesus

preachinjesus

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Politics has no place near the pulpit.

We can speak to moral issues, but politics has a completely different aim and process than the Cross. We are to preach Christ, crucified, not a political agenda.

Our policy, as a staff, is to talk to people from a place of restoration and not condemnation. Too much of the politics that is "spoken of" comes from one vantage point that is too much about the speaker's preference and not a Gospel oriented values. We don't believe the NT gives pastors the permission to speak about politics. Rather it speaks about how we can support, love, and cherish those who don't have a voice.

The Gospel of purity shares no space with the politics of corruption.
 
NaasPreacher (C4K)

NaasPreacher (C4K)

Well-Known Member
preachinjesus said:
Politics has no place near the pulpit.

We can speak to moral issues, but politics has a completely different aim and process than the Cross. We are to preach Christ, crucified, not a political agenda.


The Gospel of purity shares no space with the politics of corruption.
Click to expand...

Excellent post. I think the political pulpit is mostly an American phenomenon. I have been away from it for so long it makes me uncomfortable. About as far I get is to remind people the pray for the Taoiseach and other leaders.
 
J

jaigner

Active Member
With the combination of politics and pulpit, we have created a very unfortunate Americanized gospel. Jesus didn't go about change by political means. We seem to think that the sin of others is going to compromise our effectiveness or something. Legislating Christianity is no way to change hearts.

The Kingdom we serve is not like the kingdoms of this world, like the U.S., which will pass away. We serve a higher throne.

That being said, I sit under a preacher who talks about that stuff all the time. The best thing to do is probably to talk to them privately.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top