Local pastors best placed to deal with political issues

Opinion

When it comes to the current economic and political situation, at my church we talk and pray about these kinds of things regularly.

For instance, at our weekly prayer meetings and on the monthly prayer lists we distribute, we regularly pray for political leaders and situations. We do this because we take seriously the instruction the apostle Paul gave: “that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

We also address issues at our weekly Bible studies in a discussion format. On U.S. election day, for instance, we began a series I called “Geopolitics and World Mission.” In the first two studies we searched the Scriptures as well as historical documents to help us put the American election in historical and biblical perspective.

For the rest of November, we expanded our scope to look at other topics (colonialism, Ukraine, Israel/Gaza, etc.). In my sermons, I also regularly reference global situations. Sometimes I’ll cite it directly, but more often than not it will be oblique. This makes it possible for the application to serve a broader purpose.

But despite a commitment to conscious political study, analysis, and commentary, I do not believe that it is wise or appropriate for churches to make statements on their websites or social media feeds about tariffs, Trump, or any other political situation. It is up to local pastors to shepherd their flocks, not national organizations or networks.

Shepherding is work that must be done with subtlety and precision, not blunt tools. It is hard, person-to-person work. You are facing real people: with real fears that need to be addressed, with real biases that need to be exposed, with real hearts that need to be stoked.

This can only be done by leaders they trust, people who have laboured to build up the kind of relational capital that will not be depleted when they suspect that you might have voted for someone they hate or agree with policies they don’t understand. And they need to know what the Scriptures say, not read impersonal exhortations which will, at best, make them feel better for a few seconds…until they click onto the next site.

The last thing we need is more virtual signalling. In our day and age, when there is already so much noise, when the general population doesn’t really care what some pastor says (unless they already happen to agree with him), it serves no purpose to feed the perpetually self-righteous outrage machine.

In a recent Free Press column, someone is quoted as asking Jesus: “What the hell is with your church?” It’s not always a bad question. But in this case, it doesn’t seem that far from the informal ritual that Jesus’ contemporaries were engaging in when they sought his opinion on “the Galileans whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices.”

It’s not so much that they wanted him to tell them what to do or to think. They wanted validation. They wanted him to tell them that their indignation was entirely justified. Jesus didn’t take the bait. His shocking response: “unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:3)

Attempting to apply the Scriptures to the current moment for a local congregation is par for the course for a pastor, or ought to be. Pastoral care is about shepherding the people you know, not about making vague public pronouncements about how we’re all going to get through this together. We’ll leave that to the politicians.

Yuri Hooker is senior pastor at Bethesda Church.

As part of our Religion in the News project, the Free Press invited faith leaders to share their reflections on the United States’ trade war with Canada.

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