I was an evangelical minister for many years but I became a poor fit, especially when it came to blurring the lines between religion and government.
“The Church needs to get out of politics and government,” I would argue. “Yes, we need to be good citizens. We should vote, pay our taxes, and obey the law of the land but the church has a different agenda on which to focus.
"Our priorities are to practice love and goodness, tell others about our beliefs, and practice good values… not control the government. We can serve in politics but not as agents of our religion.”
Few people agreed with me but I was right.
One of the reasons we should keep church and state separate is that religion makes both government and itself unhealthy when it's in control.
Religion sucks at running governments. We could make exhaustive lists of how religions down through history have led countries in trampling human rights, as well as conducting outright wars.
The Evangelical movement is terrible about who it backs as a candidate. They hated Jimmy Carter, who himself was Southern Baptist until he had enough of their foolishness. Evangelicals have widely endorsed President Trump whose lifestyle often contradicts their values. He flaunts his wealth, brags about his sexual exploits, and has led the nation to focus on selfishness ("America first!").
He’s mean, rude, angry, and immature; yet the Evangelicals have insisted that this particular President is chosen by God to be the leader of the country. Their scriptural reference is Romans 13, which says government leaders are ordained by God and should be respected. If this is true then not only is Trump chosen by God, but so was Barack Obama, George Bush, and Bill Clinton, as well as Putin, Sadaam Hussein, Mussolini, and Hitler.
Why don’t they leave Christianity out of it and say what’s always just below the surface of their political conversations: they like Trump because they think he’ll help them hang onto their wealth? They can’t really say that, though, because their teaching says they shouldn’t be so concerned about money.
“Be good citizens," I used to preach, "and vote according to your values. But as a church, let’s quit going through the middleman of government to perform the direct mission of feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, and tending the sick. If you believe in Jesus, then, by all means, speak up to the world and say what you believe. If you really want to get radical, sell all your church assets, and instead of using the money to lobby the government, spend it all to help the poor." (This is a direct reference to Jesus’ commands.)
But most churches don’t do these things. A very small percentage of congregational budgets go toward benevolent work. Most of the money goes to property upkeep and administration. A great deal of talk is focused on outrage at the nation's poor morals, as well as how poorly the government is performing.
“If you really think the government is worth focusing on,” I’d say, “Then let's go out of business and give all our assets to politics and government.
“At the very least we should keep the agendas separate."
Again, I didn't convince anyone but I was right.
"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (Mark 12:7).
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David Mercer is a former minister who lives in Orlando Florida with his wife, Sylvia. He writes the blog, Deep Calls, David Mercer’s Reflections on Humanity and Spirituality, and offers his services as a Humanist Celebrant.