MISCELLANEOUS MONDAY: When the Label Machine is Broken - Stephen

Labels—the ones we place on each other, not the ones we find in our pantry—have you ever wondered what true purpose they serve within our society (aka the Label-Machine)? 
 
Now I will admit that some labels are inevitable: first name, last name, etc. But as I get older I am finding that unlike puzzle pieces, people don’t always have a comfortable shape to be placed into. 
 
Let’s be honest, labels have both benefits and dangers. Benefits being they are a source of organization, distinction, and, for the OCD folks, sanity. Dangers being they tend to be narrowly exclusive, overly inclusive, or just outright needless due to the fact that they cause more harm than good. 
 
One of those harms is that many times these categorical titles (fancy name for labels because I was tired of using that word) remove a middle ground. In other words, they tend to cause many people to see not just some but all categories as black and white, if not “this” then must be “that”, never gray…like that there cat (pardon my need for rhyming there). 
 
But where’s the middle ground? Where do the people go that don’t fit nicely into the labels we have created for them—those who don’t want to label themselves exclusively by their politics, their skin color, their age demographic, etc.? Where do they go? We don’t like those kinds of people, do we? Because those people ruin our desire for honest-to-goodness tribalism…I mean organization. Whoops! 
 
What about the harm labels create in removing mystery from our world? Going back to our pantry, isn’t that the purpose of those labels—to make sure we grab the kidney beans for tonight’s chili and not the kidneys themselves? We don't want mystery ingredients in the chili. But if we label everything (outside of the pantry) and fit it all into a nice “box”, where does imagination exist?  
 
We have been taught from a very young age to color inside the lines but what do we do with the child who seems to find more beauty in coloring outside of them? What do we do with the Edisons who desire a lightbulb as opposed to a candle or lantern? The Fords who desire an automobile as opposed to a carriage? And the everyday moms, dads, teachers, bosses, and entrepreneurs who see more opportunity changing the way it’s done instead of following the societal trends of the label they possess? 
 
Doesn’t sound like danger to you yet? Consider what our desire to label seemingly everything does to our belief of the spiritual world—that world that is unseen of good and evil. How do we label those things? How do you organize and categorize things that cannot be seen by the human eye? How do you categorize miracles and things that even doctors can’t explain after their years of training and experience? How do you explain and organize the life change of a drug addict after they place their unseen faith in an unseen Savior, the Son of an unseen God? Could it be possible that our desire to label and completely explain these things can actually remove or prevent ones faith of the supernatural and spiritual?
 
It’s true that labels are helpful in some ways but it seems that as the use of labels grows, the division grows also. Instead of finding commonality, labels help us boast in our distinction and individualism. This has resulted in more church denominations, more lifestyle choices, and more options in almost every facet of life and yet we still can’t seem to find the right box for every person. But why?
 
Maybe it’s because the only single-faceted label for every multi-faceted person was created by someone other than ourselves. Maybe it is the fact that God created each of us in His image and, therefore, the only label that will ever endure long after ours have proven themselves insufficient is this: MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD (i.e. Genesis 1:26). 
 
That’s the label we should be most concerned with when we see an individual—they are MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.  
 
Yes, they may be of a certain political party and yet they are MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. Sure they may be of a different skin color but still they are MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. Absolutely they may be of a different age, different ethnicity, and different background with a different voice, different customs, and maybe even of different religious beliefs BUT they remain MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. 
 
As a friend of mine put it: “To denigrate another image-bearer in the name of God Himself- to falsely elevate oneself over another - is a grave form of self-idolatry and pride.” But isn’t it true that it is easier to look down upon a person who is seen only by their label than someone who is seen as a creation of God Himself?
 
If our “label-machine” of a society has its way we Christians will do just that and see individuals through the lens of the categorical name-badges they have placed upon them. But if God has His way in our lives we will see them only as part of the world that “God so loved” and therefore, like us, must hear about “His only begotton Son (John 3:16).” 
 

“Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew (label), askest drink of me, which am a woman (label) of Samaria? for the Jews (label) have no dealings with the Samaritans (label). 

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water (The Gospel).”

John 4:9-10

Pulpit & Politics: Ben’s Response to Stephen’s Answer

I'm not ashamed to admit that it wasn't until I read "their thoughts of Jesus disillusioned" that I realized Stephen was drawing from Scripture to set his scene. Either Stephen is a good writer, or the Bible is just that relevant for every age. It was probably a little of both.  

But Stephen really drove his point home when he said, "Cast your vote, not your hope." Aside from the rhyming aspect of that little phrase, it highlights a great principle: our hope does not rest in an election. Our hope is in Jesus Christ. 

This does not mean we cannot be discouraged or angered by an election. Like any situation, it can affect our moods in a variety of ways. However, the Christian, more than anyone, knows the One who holds tomorrow. And while we cannot presume to know how God will act, we can assume that God will work according to His will. Whether those in leadership are good for the people or bad, God's will has not been compromised or subverted. He uses both the righteous and the evil vessels to accomplish His objectives. The entire universe bends beneath the weight of His will. Elections are small things to the God who colored the galaxies.

Our hope is in the Painter of the Milky Way and not in the United States' President. According to the word of God, the world turns in its' orbit, and He is turning our country according to His will. We only need to trust that He knows what He's doing better than we do. 

¹ Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. ³ He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high

Hebrews 1:1-3

Pulpit & Politics: Post-Election (Well, sort of.) - Stephen's Answer

 The election is over…well…sort of. 
 
Truth be told, I hadn’t planned on the “sort of” part when it came to giving my answer on this subject. But with Ben giving his thoughts on the subject pre-election, I believe my post-election comments will ring true no matter the final outcome or the results. Who knows – maybe this will be a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to write down some thoughts mid-presidential election? One can only hope…but I digress back to the subject at hand—Pulpit & Politics. 
__________________________________________________________
Imagine the scene for a moment—millions of people are gathered lining the streets. The excitement of what’s to come is felt by everyone including those who find themselves in opposition to what’s about to take place. The nation’s banner is being waved by seemingly everyone as this man comes riding into the city. They are all cheering as if this is the realization of their long-awaited hope—the hope for a political leader to free them from those who have corrupted and overtaken their land! 
 
But right as this man comes to the end of the crowd’s cheers, He goes straight for the Temple instead of the Roman fort. Jesus was the Messiah, just not the kind the people expected. He was going to free them but not from Roman rule. He was going to save them from their sins, not their political enemies. 
 
Within days the people were disappointed, their hopes dashed, and their thoughts of Jesus disillusioned. “We must look for another,” they thought as they shifted their eyes and turned their backs on Jesus. But here’s the truth that Israel would hopefully learn from that first Palm Sunday—don’t wait for the next political messiah or you might just miss Jesus in the process.
 
As we consider what we can learn as pastors and Christians from this past election, I think the truth is very similar to Israel’s that day. To put the truth in my southern vernacular—if your wagon was hitched to Jesus leading up to the election, you didn’t have to buy a new cart afterwards. Politics will sell you a four-year model; Jesus’ lasts forever.
 
DON’T PUT YOUR HOPE IN A POLITICAL LEADER!!—no matter their looks, how they act, or what they promise they are not worthy of our hope. As Christians in America, casting our vote is our civic duty, casting our hope is not. There is a difference and our post-election reactions will reveal which one of those we have cast at the ballot box this election. 
 
No matter what side of the political aisle you may find yourself on CAST YOUR VOTE BUT NOT YOUR HOPE. As pastors we must, I repeat MUST, show and exemplify this to our people. It is not merely our pulpits and ministries that may suffer if we don’t, but it could also be the size of our God and Savior in the minds of those to whom we minister. May we, as pastors and Christian leaders, never get to the place as a friend of mine put it where a
“pastor accidentally, unknowingly, or willingly has educated himself into a secular mindset that will only draw him to use language and talking points that tend less to lead to Christ and more to ‘gospel issues’….. [This] pastor gets to a place that he has unknowingly or worse adopted these practices that harm him, his family, and his church.”
 
Either Jesus is our Savior and the Hope of this world or He is not. There can be no middle ground reverberating from the pulpit because Jesus left no middle ground riding into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday. Jesus had a chance to become a historical political leader for the nation of Israel that day but instead He cleansed the Temple of God (Matthew 21:8-13). 
 
May we as pastors and Christians follow Christ’s example that says—there is a greater cause, a greater hope, and a greater salvation than politics. For as Peter, the disciple of Jesus, would eventually testify to all of Israel (and all of us)—

“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole….for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” - Acts 4:10, 12

Pulpit & Politics - Stephen's Response to Ben

In response to Ben’s post all I would like to say is—ditto. 
 
Just kidding. 
 
Taking on this subject before the election, Ben pretty much covered the gamut. With that said, I want to focus on a word and a title that Ben used over and over again—pastor.
 
If you are part of a church you are familiar with that title; if not, you may rarely run into such a word. A pastor is one who primarily speaks from the pulpit of a church, but what does such a title actually mean in light of Ben’s post?
 
A professor of mine in college once told a story of sitting in a leadership meeting at a church he had just been called to pastor. He sat at the table along with the other leaders and the meeting began and ended without one single word or request for his opinion or thoughts on any of the matters that were discussed. At the very end of the meeting they finally asked if he had anything to add. His only response was: “I’m a little confused. Did you call me to be a pastor or just a preacher?” Unbeknownst to those other men my professor believed there to be a difference between the two. The following poem may help define the roles:
 
A preacher preaches sermons,
A pastor shares his heart;
A preacher watches others,
A pastor does his part.
 
A preacher’s unaffected by what he sees around him,
A pastor weeps and rejoices right alongside them.
 
A preacher is there to do his thing and nothing more,
A pastor is there to love and guide always with an open door.
 
A preacher can come and go unscathed,
A pastor can’t help but bear the weight.
 
A preacher is doing a job that he is called to do,
A pastor is part of a family that he belongs to.
 
I realize this may seem like mere semantics (and maybe it is) but consider even the titles themselves—a preacher is known for the message they preach, a pastor is known for the hearts for which they care. With that in mind, I believe had Ben merely been speaking of a preacher blatant politics from the pulpit wouldn’t necessarily be restrained. A good pastor, on the other hand, chooses his words wisely from the pulpit because his heart seeks to be like Christ—”full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). This balance is many times hard to strike but always sought as Jesus exemplified (e.g. John 8:10-11).  
 
Truth alone, from politics to Biblical expository, might make one a preacher or a sought orator; but truth from God’s Word balanced with grace for its hearers makes a pastor. And even when a pastor seeks that balance on a political issue, the message is not a partisan soapbox or a pandering rabbit trail, but as Ben said, “sermons rooted in a biblical text.” Because, unlike the preacher, this pastor knows—the Bible is sufficient to speak for itself to the church that he loves no matter the issue.

 

Pulpit & Politics: "The Church isn’t a voting bloc." - Ben’s Answer

We're told that there are two things no sensible adult should ever bring up in mixed company: religion and politics. We see this played out quite vividly in things like Jefferson's philosophy of the separation of church and state and the Johnson Amendment. So it seems like the majority has spoken: keep your religion out of politics. 

In a way most pastors would agree. For instance, in a recent study from LifeWay Research where over a thousand individual pastors were surveyed, 98% refused to endorse any single candidate in any official capacity in their church.

This is not because it was unlawful, nor was it because most would’ve considered it bad form.  Instead ministers avoided such discussions because they knew that Christians should interact with one another via their affiliation to Christ rather than some political association. Or, as a friend of mine recently told his congregates in Kissimmee, FL, “The church isn’t a voting bloc.” A pastor is most concerned with what is beneficial (cf. 1 Cor. 10:23-33), and inciting a political debate on a Sunday morning is the furthest thing from helpful. 

But, like all things, matters are rarely black and white. This same study found that pastors were also far more vocal in their personal lives. Roughly one-third admitted to voicing support of a candidate just this year. Just because a pastor won’t use their pulpit for a political endorsement doesn’t mean they will not use their personal lives.

Which brings up a stark truth—a person’s beliefs about anything cannot be divorced from their identity just because they've moved from a professional role to a personal one. There’s bound to be some overlap. Meaning, despite our proclivity to never mix politics and religion, politics still affect the pulpit and vice versa. 

Bible Verses Not Biased Headlines

Politics affect the pulpit because politics deal with real-world issues that affect Christians living in the real world. God has given us a handbook in His Word on how to deal with real-world problems. From this perspective it becomes clear that it's actually impossible to avoid politics in church.  For instance, I’ve had to speak every week throughout the pandemic. As such, I've had to preach sermons right after police shootings and violent riots in the streets; all the while a deadly virus ravages our world. Once a week I’ve had to present biblical principles to a people who have been inundated daily with political diatribes about each of those topics. Should I leave these subject matters to the likes of the socials, Fox News, or CNN? I think not. Christians need to hear how the Scriptures touch on each of those areas. They need their worldview shaped by Bible verses and not by biased headlines.

Sermons Without Subterfuge

But I want to make something very clear: though a pastor has to touch on politics, they must also do so from sermons rooted in a biblical text. This means that they must resist the urge to askew a text to suit their own political ideologies. Though they undoubtedly have an affiliation, the pastor does a disservice to his flock if he engages in verbal subterfuge by using the scriptures as a mask for some political agenda.  When a pastor has to address a polarizing topic there should never be an implied slant or veiled reference toward one party. His speech must be without dissimulation (cf. Mat. 5:37; Eph 4:25-32).  

As a pastor I am not above speaking about social justice, abortion, or foreign affairs because the Bible is THE guiding post for all truth in all areas, but using my platform to either demonize or deify a specific political candidate is a step too far. 

It is possible to disconnect principles from the political personalities who are in vogue at the time. The only person who deserves my whole-hearted endorsement is Jesus.  The churchgoer should never have to wonder who I’m talking about when I step onto that platform. Sermons should always move from the context of Scripture and then to the context of our lives and not the other way around.

Speaking So That All May Hear

It concerns me that the mass media feels we as evangelical leaders abuse our power for political gains. If the masses think our bond to a donkey or an elephant, or whatever, is more fundamental than our bond to the Lamb, then we have indeed failed in our duty. To tie our pulpits to a specific political candidate, whether implied or expressed later, is to bow the knee to the idol of popular opinion and to turn our backs on the King of kings. 

The reality is that most pastors I know would never do such a thing. Like me, they are careful how they talk about political candidates. They are patient with those who disagree with them. They are more than happy to restrict what they do for the sake of the gospel (cf. 1 Cor. 9:19-23). And though it may be difficult at times (especially in an election year), most hold their tongue. They do this because they want nothing more than to live in such a way that all may hear them when they speak.

Every faithful witness of the gospel knows that there is no such thing as a “Christian” political party. There is only the Kingdom, and as such they are about the King’s business. They want the Kingdom’s rule to reign supreme on this earth. And they do not, under any circumstances, superimpose their political ideologies onto Christianity. 

The true believer readily admits that they are misfits and sojourners in this world who do not belong to any specific earthly camp (1 Peter 2:11; cf. Josh 5:13-14). They do not make any party synonymous with the Kingdom.  They know all too well that to shine their light through the lens of politics at best dims it, but at worst, the light becomes totally hidden under a bushel.  And the disciple does not sacrifice kingdom ethics for political gains.

Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16