Posted by : Shawn in (Stuff I Do)
Can Pastors Express A Public Opinion?
I was feeling a little feisty this morning so I twittered:
“Why are some people so afraid to let pastors have public views on politics or controversial church issues?”
And out of this a Twitter discussion has started as well as a Facebook discussion with lots of great thoughts and insight. What is even cooler is that it is a mix of folks, Presbyterians, pastors, World of Warcraft players, people I went to high school with and a few other random folk that somehow find it worth their time to follow my twitters or friend me on Facebook.
My intial question was basically expressing a frustration I have that as a minister I am supposed to keep any controversial views to myself - at all times. Of course, I certainly understand why people feel this way. The basic argument is that as a minister I hold a certain sort of power and people will view what I say as more of a “word from God” then they would a non-minister. So when I express an opinion there is the unsaid notion that “this is what a faithful Christian would believe.”
Here are my problems with this:
1) That’s a very un-Presbyterian thing to believe. The whole notion of the Reformation was that each and every person has the same access to God and the Bible, and that the priest/minister is no more holy or in touch with God than anyone else.
2) Does this rule apply to other people with power? Certain people in other roles have other sorts of power - police officers, soldiers, doctors, political pundits, top-level corporate executives, actors, media personalities, internet personalities, etc. There are people who will listen more closely to any number of the above roles and believe what they say for various non-logical reasons. So should all of these people have no public opinions either?
3) Jesus held some pretty public and unpopular views. He was killed by the government for speaking out against the government. I know I’m not Jesus, but like all Christians I’m called to follow him and try to do what he did.
4) What would have happened if Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (and countless other ministers at the time) had kept their views to themselves? There are times for the church to stand up to the culture around them. In the Presbyterian Book of Confessions we have the Barmen Declaration. This was a statement from churches in Germany that refused to align themselves with the Hitler’s government.
I’m certainly not advocating a scenario where I preach or teach who to vote for or whether or not God wants the Congress to pass a bailout plan. But I think it is sad if people are afraid (and it is fear we are talking about) of me revealing who I might vote for.
And have you ever noticed that it often isn’t the fact that a pastor has expressed an opinion that is the problem, but rather that the pastor expressed an opinion with which someone disagreed?
