Too Political…

Let’s start with this statement from Brian Zahnd:

Did I catch your attention yet? One of the most common ways to try to silence many pastors is to throw this accusation at them — “You’re being too political…” I’ve heard this accusation myself. It usually comes out when I preach about God’s justice for people — the poor, the oppressed, racial justice, etc.

When I hear it, I do the unexpected — I like to engage the person laying out the accusation. I like to ask what they mean by it. Most of the time they don’t mean political, they mean partisan. As I’ve written many times before — the two terms are not the same.

Funny, isn’t it, that when we preach about God’s justice that for some people it sounds like it is linked to a partisan agenda. I think that’s sad honestly. God isn’t a Democrat or Republican. Here’s a news flash for some people — God isn’t even American.

Is God’s justice partisan? How does that even make sense? Is wanting people to be out of poverty a partisan issue? If so, and you’re opposed to that, then you might want to ask yourself what it is that you are actually supporting. And ask yourself why you are willingly taking a position in opposition to what God has been standing for since the beginning. Why are you right and God wrong?