Amid Tense Election, Ministers Remind Christians Of Allegiance To God
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This year marks the first time Carlos Estrada, minister for the Spanish-speaking cohort of Chicago’s Northwest Church of Christ, gets to cast his vote as an American citizen.
The Honduran native understands the importance of elections — that Central American country’s former President Juan Orlando Hernández was recently convicted in a U.S. trial for his role in drug trafficking.
That’s why Estrada encourages all citizens to exercise their voting rights in the face of corruption, and he counsels church members — younger ones, especially — to examine their political beliefs against the message of the gospel.
But he never wants to give the impression that they should vote a certain way — in fact, he tries to avoid speaking about political issues from the pulpit entirely, even indirectly.
“If I want to mention something, I will talk about the Kingdom of God and how we are under the rule of the King of heavens,” Estrada told The Christian Chronicle.
While he and fellow Northwest ministers Patrick Odum and Paul Chae come to American politics from different perspectives, they agree that its only place in their preaching is in the context of the Kingdom.
“Our response tends to be not how do you vote — our response tends to be what do you do?” said Odum, who primarily preaches for the congregation’s English-speaking Black and White members. “How do you show love in those circumstances?”
Keeping ‘politics in perspective’
During another divisive political season, preachers in Churches of Christ across the nation are expressing similar messages.
Orpheus Heyward, preacher for the Renaissance Church of Christ in Atlanta, said he’s making sure church members “keep politics in perspective.”
“That simply means when I do speak about it, I speak about it from the perspective of, the Christian faith will never find a political party that lines up with the standards that have been revealed by the apostles — that as we engage politics, we have to do so recognizing its limitations,” Heyward told the Chronicle.
“I often try to keep our church very realistic about the political realm and what it means to be part of a political party,” he added. “They need to be mindful that these things have precious little to do with God’s agenda, although God is able to use all things for his purpose.”
Likewise, Chris McCurley, preacher for the Walnut Street Church of Christ in Dickson, Tenn., reminds his fellow Christians that their Kingdom is not of this world.
“So while you can be active in politics, and while you have a voice and a vote and all those kind of things, just remember its place,” he said. “We know who sits on the throne. And at the end of the day, I’m a monarchist. Jesus is my king, and that’s where I land.
“And I try to present that so that folks understand politics is part of a man-made kingdom, a man-made system. And those systems always fail. They always become corrupt — I think the Bible shows us that.”
Voting with faith
At the same time, ministers are not ignorant of the impact elections have and the concerns people of faith have about who’s in the White House and other positions of government.
“There’s almost a belief that a particular party … secures my future because at the base level, we’re human, and we are very concerned about protecting our own little sphere of influence,” said Robin Gough, minister for the Fairfax Church of Christ in Virginia. “If we just put the right person in the office of the White House, then everything’s going to be better.”
But it’s important that Christians not be motivated by fear and let their faith shape the way they interact with politics — not the other way around — he added.
“I want to speak (about) what’s going to build up the church,” Gough said. “Even though I love my country, and I vote and all those things, I’m not interested in making sure America is sustained as much as I am that the Kingdom of God is growing — and sometimes those are at odds.”
David Duncan, preacher for the Memorial Church of Christ in Houston, agrees that the best way to influence how Christians navigate the election season is to just keep preaching Jesus.
“Politics do form people, there’s no doubt,” he said. “But what I want to do is continually preach Jesus and the principles of the gospel. … If we are preaching and teaching those principles, then the way I treat my neighbor or the way I vote or the way I handle stress in my life — those things will eventually handle themselves if a person is truly being transformed in the image and likeness of Jesus.”
Striving for unity, not division
Ministers are also aware of the strain politics can put on relationships — in and outside the church.
“I think one of the things we have a responsibility for is to help people navigate how to disagree without turning guns on each other — metaphorically or otherwise,” said Odum, one of the Northwest ministers. “And recognize that we’re not united by voting the same way or believing the same thing politically. We’re united by what Jesus has done and by our citizenship in God’s Kingdom.
“And so we have a different standard as Christians, and we need to consider that. And unfortunately, that has not been something that Christians have done well in our country.”
The third Northwest preacher, Chae, said even the Korean members to whom he primarily ministers become divided over American politics.
“We don’t want to argue in the church,” Chae said, “so we usually don’t want to (discuss) any political issue.”
Duncan, the Memorial preacher, remembers when Houston Christians left churches during the last election because of perceived political leanings of sermons and Bible classes.
That’s why he avoids talking about certain issues even in private conversations.
“I do not want to split the body of Jesus, and so, above everything, I’ve got to remember that’s what’s important,” Duncan said. “The country is not eternal, and this election is not eternal.”
Trusting in God
While Estrada, Odum, Heyward, McCurley and other ministers agree that Christians are privileged — but not obligated — to vote, they say God is still in control no matter who wins.
“Whoever’s in the White House, whoever’s leading, we’re just going to roll with the punches,” said Jerrard Davis, minister for the Spencer Church of Christ, east of Oklahoma City. “Maybe the candidate that we voted for, maybe the candidate that we did not vote for — either way, our hope and our trust doesn’t lie in a governmental position. Our trust and hope relies on God.”
That means, Davis added, that Christians have a duty to support their leaders spiritually even if not politically.
“Whoever God places in that position, I’m going to pray for them,” he said. “I’m going to encourage the members to pray for them. And it’s our responsibility to do our best to convert people to Jesus, not to a political figure. So we have to just stand right there and say we fight where God wants us to fight.”
Ultimately, McCurley, the Walnut Street preacher, said his duty is only to preach the gospel — regardless of what’s going on in the world.
“When it comes to guiding people through a political season, I’m trying to guide them through any season,” he said, “and by doing that, getting them to focus properly and to remember where our hope lies. …
“Our responsibility as Christians, No. 1, is to be the agency by which the story of salvation is to be told. … And so I think my job is always to kind of refocus us, no matter what season it is, to remember that this world is not our home.”
This piece is republished with permission from The Christian Chronicle.
Calvin Cockrell is a freelance digital media specialist, media editor for The Christian Chronicle and copyeditor for Religion Unplugged. He also serves as the young adults minister for the North Tuscaloosa Church of Christ in Alabama.