Politicizing the Pulpit?
Or preaching the full counsel of God?
by Rod D. Martin
November 11, 2021
Some wish to "depoliticize the pulpit". Of those, many just wish to re-politicize it for Democrats and away from truth. But some are completely sincere. And wrong.
Politics is the means by which free people govern themselves. We must govern according to the principles God has established. We must also resist rule by those who hate God, who seek to deify the state and establish anti-Christian principles as normative. Therefore we must engage in politics, and all politics is inherently religious.
Moreover, insofar as the law is a teacher, it is our duty to make the law good, which is inherent to the command to "make disciples of all nations". Shall we allow ourselves to be ruled by wicked laws when we have the choice and ability (however difficult it might be) to make it better? The Lord Himself teaches us that "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan."
The truth is, (1) there is hardly a single issue Scripture addresses that is not being openly addressed from the opposite direction in the public square today; and (2) those who are assaulting the positions commanded by our God should be called out by name, as God Himself does repeatedly throughout Scripture, from Pharaoh's magicians to Hananiah to Alexander the Coppersmith.
A squeamish pulpit is a faithless pulpit. A pulpit that hides behind (a false interpretation of) the First Amendment is a pulpit that proclaims "we have no king but Caesar."
Pastors who refuse to teach these truths are not preaching the full counsel of God. They are hirelings, abandoning their flocks to the wolves.