What the Vanilla Pastor Really Means by “The Church is Not Political”
By: Ken Wilson
Tags: Culture, Conflict, Trump, Politics, Religion

To find out, let’s give the man a little truth serum and see what he says.

“What a I really mean is our people don’t have much skin in the politics game, because things are already stacked to work for us. So in church, politics isn’t worth the hassle of straining our unity in these polarized times.

“Of course that doesn’t mean we don’t have our political grievances — and plenty of them. They enhance our sense of belonging to a club of the good guys, our bonding agent. True, these grievances are rarely about things that affect us personally. They don’t determine who we can marry or whether we can get a loan or how careful we have to be when we’re stopped for a traffic infraction. And it’s not our kids going to fight in the wars politicians get us into. I guess politics is like college football (for the people who are into it )— a way to get yourself juiced up and take your mind off other things.

“So no, I steer clear of politics from the pulpit. Because we non-political pastors have this code that everyone understands. For example, all I have to do is throw my congregation a little red meat once in a while — say “culture of death,” or mention “the slippery slope,” and I can almost see the collective wink and nod. My colleagues in more liberal places have other phrases, but same effect. The key to a good red-meat phrase is “plausible deniability” — just in case someone objects, you can always say, “Oh that’s not what I meant at all!” But despite the risks, you gotta use them. Properly delivered in the right doses, they inject such a good feeling of shared values. Like oil running down Aaron’s beard, when brethren dwell together in unity. Sorry, I can’t help quoting Scripture, it means so much to me.

“Besides, here’s the thing I’ve learned since seminary: what’s really important is the prevailing culture in a church and not what I say. (In fact, it’s what I don’t say that really counts — that’s how you maintain your prevailing culture, key to your unity.) Of course I tout diversity, but who isn’t for that? And I quote Martin Luther King, selectively, when he sounds the most reasonable to my audience.

“I gotta admit, though, there are times when I’m caught off guard. Something in the Book jumps out at me, and all I can see is kids in cages or what was that guys name with the police officer’s knee on his neck — that was AWFUL! — and it seems kinda political. But I know which side my daily bread is buttered on. I know the biggest donors around here are the older ones who like their news fair and balanced. So I keep it to myself. A lot of my more liberal pastor friends tell me its the same in their church. (Man, they are a frustrated bunch who do a lot of complaining about their churches in their clergy groups! That’s gotta be miserable.)

“I’m not saying social justice isn’t a biblical value. It is. In fact, I’m thinking about letting a new person start a “Social Justice Book Group.” At first it made me nervous — too political. But I talked it over with a pastor friend of mine and he reassured me: “Oh I’ve let those happen for years off an on. They start up, peter out, and nothing ever comes of it. Just keep it out of the pulpit and you’ll be fine.” So I might go ahead with that because it is important to be culturally relevant — it’s one of our “core values”since the church marketing guy said we should have some and put them on our website.

“Still, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and there’s a discomforting voice in my head, ‘You chickenshit! You gotta say something!’ That’s when I thank God for my new Bible-Based Christian Mindfulness App. I’m learning how to let it go, return my focus to the breath, and remind myself, ‘The Church is Not Political.’”