Political Churches and Burned Out Pastors
Shattering myths and stabilizing shepherds. Two recent columns on the church and politics
If all you knew about evangelical worship services came from what you read from hot takes and headlines, you’d probably think the average Sunday is more political than it actually is. That’s the subject of one of my recent columns for World:
To listen to many analysts, you’d think that in evangelical contexts, members are catechized every week in Republican talking points, given the latest tracking polls in their bulletins, and offer prayers to a statue of Ronald Reagan. And yet the opposite is true. Conservative worshippers may vote conservatively and, in a two-party system, they primarily vote GOP because of the stark moral contrasts of the competing platforms’ agendas, but they rarely if ever hear the name of a politician invoked in the pulpit.
If anything, pastors are often too reticent to address prevailing moral issues in the pulpit, failing to help their members live out their citizenship throughout the week. This often leaves churchgoers overly influenced by media voices and other authorities whose worldviews may or may not correspond to Christian witness.
But ethical formation based upon faithful proclamation of Scripture is a different practice than overt campaigning and outright endorsements. Preachers, after all, are to be pastors and not pundits. The gospel is not partisan, but it is political and always speaks a word of warning to the ideologies of the age. The job of the pastor is to shape consciences through the revealed and undiluted Word of God.
Christians on Sunday are citizens on Monday, so what they hear in church and in their small groups should impact the way they live in the world. It’s not an outbreak of theocracy to want to apply our Christian faith to the policies that affect our communities. Yet churches aren’t the partisan hothouses they are often assumed to be. Many conservative Christians are misrepresented by those who write about evangelicals in bad faith.
You can read the rest here
Earlier this week I had a column talking about the trend of burned-out pastors. The last few years have taken a toll as social tension, COVID, and increasing tribalism have made pastors weary:
Earlier this year, The Barna Research Group reported that 42 percent of pastors nationwide considered resigning in the last year, up from 29 percent in 2021. The role of the pastor has always been a difficult calling since Paul urged his young protégé, Timothy, to “stand strong in the grace of Jesus Christ” and endure suffering as a good soldier” (2 Timothy 2:3). Yet, we might live in one of the most challenging environments for the pastorate in decades. An increasingly polarized populace, combined with racial tensions, pandemic after-effects, disunity in the church, and the largely negative impact of social media, are a toxic stew that makes leadership difficult.
Mark Sayers, author of A Non-Anxious Presence and an influential pastor in Australia, recently wrote that the influences on church members are manifold and often out of a pastor’s field of vision: “A congregation may be physically present within their church, but their primary influence comes from the digital networks to which they are connected. These digital networks may be political, cultural, or theological.” The problem of pastoral burnout has attracted the attention of many secular media outlets, such as The New York Times and News Nation.
The Barna study found that the top two reasons many clergy members are considering quitting are the immense stresses of the job and the increasing political divisions they see within their congregations. These two are interrelated as the country’s deep divisions no longer stay outside the church walls but invade as partisan politics seeps more and more into the daily lives of American citizens.
This epidemic of pastoral burnout should be a sober warning for all of us. For pastors, it’s a reminder of the high calling of the role, one that comes with both blessing and disappointment. Our need for godly, courageous, faithful local shepherds is greater than ever. It is the consistent heralding of God’s Word, the application of truth to the false ideologies of the age, and stable leadership of presence that God can use to have a transformative impact on a people and a community. It is pastors who, by their obedience to the Spirit, can equip Christians to live on mission in an increasingly antagonistic world.
But those of us who are faithful church members should recognize our role in ensuring our communities continue to have churches with faithful, courageous pastors. If the source of pastoral burnout today is members unwilling to give up their fractious ways, unwilling to resist the polarization of the age, and unwilling to work toward Christian unity, perhaps it is time we take seriously the need to encourage and support faithful pastors.
Read the whole column here
I think both of these columns, seemingly unrelated, fit together. The assumption is that evangelical churches are overtly partisan in nature. They are not and this often disturbs some Christians who want to see more on Sunday morning of what they read/listen to/watch throughout the week. Thankfully most pastors refrain from becoming pundits and instead are working to shape God’s people morally and ethically for life in the world.