My cousin Joe has been a pastor in the Bronx, NY, for nearly forty years. Given the demographics of his congregation, the church could be easily and deeply divided over politics. But Infinity Bible Church has found a better way.
As a follow-up to my devotional, Agree in the Lord, I’ve invited Joe to be a guest blogger and share his thoughts on this day before Election Tuesday. Here’s what Joe had to say:
I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. (I Cor. 1:10 NLT)
I am a white guy from a relatively small suburb in Ohio. I planted a church in the Bronx over 37 years ago. I still pastor this church. I am an anomaly. In order to be successful, I had to adapt to living in a big city. I had to try to understand and serve people of different ethnicities and cultures. Now I’m facing my greatest challenge yet:
How do I keep our church unified during the most politically toxic era in my lifetime?
In too many cases, the days of civil discourse and polite debate are over. This political climate has polarized both sides. The issue is larger than this, but to illustrate my point, I will boil down the arguments of both political sides:
Trump supporter: “How could you possibly support Biden? He is in favor of abortion up until the last day of a pregnancy??? You are literally supporting murder!”
Biden supporter: “Not all Trump supporters are racists. But all of them decided that racism isn’t a deal breaker.” (By the way, I got that exact quote from one of my facebook friends.)
If you just read the above discourse, and you are ready to argue, you are proving my point about the politics becoming polarized!
My church exists to bring the lost to Christ, and to help believers grow in their faith. It does NOT exist to promote a political party or a specific candidate. Some of the most godly people I have known are Trump supporters. And some of the most godly people I have known are Biden supporters. And if that statement makes you angry, you are again proving my point!
Recently someone from another church told me, “Our church doesn’t have a problem with unity. Everyone is voting for Trump!”
I thought, “How sad that is! There is an entire group of people that this church will never be able to reach with the Gospel. And I fear that they may not even be interested in reaching them!”
The 2020 election will be over after tomorrow. But I dare say that the polarization of our country and the visceral anger will continue past the election — no matter who wins.
What is the role of the church in the midst of all this? Our church’s mission statement has not changed:
We exist to bring the lost to Christ, and to bring those who already know Christ into a deeper relationship with Him.
To me everything else is a distraction. I cannot control all the communication between the people in our church. But, although I have strong political beliefs, I don’t need to share them with my flock. “Coward! Compromiser!” some will say. But they probably wouldn’t say that if they had heard me when I spoke against racism — or abortion.
It is entirely possible to address biblical issues without endorsing a specific candidate.
Two things would happen if I were to publicly endorse a political candidate:
Our church would be distracted from our mission statement.
There would be disunity in our church. Where is the upside???
When people in my church ask me who I’m voting for, I tell them, “I don’t do politics.” And when this is all over, and people ask me what I think about the election results, I will tell them, “We need to pray for our president!”
Final note: If you read this article, liked what I said, but have no idea who I’m voting for, you just proved my point!