Let the Church Speak

I've been alarmed by the immediate dismissal of Christians who offer a prophetic witness to society, accusing these believers of simply parroting Republican or Democratic party lines. Are our words simply a thin veneer tightly bonded to partisan politics, or do we Christians have something much deeper and more helpful to say? On its best days, the church serves as a prophetic voice to society -- as a people who (hopefully) model a different way to live, who point to another reality at work. Christians who have an insight into working of the powers (be it political, economic, the media, or organizations, or...) must be allowed to speak. It has been an important role for the church in history (before the existence of Democrats and Republicans) to call institutions to be more Christlike, all the while knowing that efforts by these institutions will always be partial and incomplete. Those Christians who do offer these assessments must not be dismissed simply as liberals or conservatives. To truly follow Jesus, Christians must speak to all those in power, standing with Jesus on the side of the marginalized, the oppressed, and the outcast, and extending hospitality and generosity without restraint. Those powers that constrain these practices at any level are always worthy of exhortation.

I say the following to myself as well as to others: If a fellow Christian stands with Jesus and rebukes the powers, do not stop her or him. Christians, if you have something to say, please say it -- don't let partisan politics inhibit the expression of your primary identity as Christ-followers.

Technorati Tags: politics, prophetic speech

Comments

[Lars Rood]

Ryan- Thank you for saying it the way you did. I have been struggling with the Evangelical churches allignment with all things Republican for a long time.

[will]

Ryan,

As someone who has, throughout the life of my blog, alternately been attacked as bowing to one party or another, when I was simply seeking to offer prophetic words, I cannot express how much I appreciate your thoughts here. Thank you!

[Jordon Cooper]

I think one of the reasons is that we no longer engage in ideas deeper than a partisan level anymore. The news media has reduced coverage and responses to a short 15 second sound byte and to best use those 15 seconds, people write off differening opinions with labels rather than engaging in them.

The church has done the same. Everytime I quote something by Campolo I read the comments that say, "tired old evangelical left" or Brian McLaren, "relativistic" even if it has nothing to do with Tony's politics and I have joked that if Brian McLaren commented on a baseball game the same old "Biblically relativistic" would still be used as a response.

Now that I have gotten all of my cynicism out of me, thanks for posting this, I appreciate it being said.

[ryan bolger]

Thanks for the affirmation and insights -- and yes, so many of us are given 'hats' that we do not want to wear. Maybe because it is easier to categorize people than to engage their ideas.

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