First let me say that my feeble attempts at blogging are ,well, appalling in the face of the blogging community. With that being said I am convinced, convicted and challenged to begin blogging on a daily basis. This is for many reasons…. So lets start with something fresh.
As a pastor there is rarely a day that passes that I do not receive a request to boycott something, sign a petition of some sort, or protest yet another issue. Normally what is wanted is my weight behind an issue before my church. I do grow weary of so many protests and petitions that I receive via e-mail, snail mail, and even in person. I need time to process, contemplate, pray, think it through but they want a signature now, today and a newsletter out to the congregation within the hour.
How does a pastor deal with this? How do you know when to sign or when to sigh? What should compel one to put their name on the line and then possibly ask their congregation to do the same? One of the first questions I ask myself is “Does this threaten Christianity as a whole?” “Does this issue create a theological compromise or undermine the Bibles authority in any way?” I also want to question if this is a threat to my liberties as Christian and as an American.
If I can answer the above questions with a yest then I deal with the next issue. If I feel that this is worthy of my signature is it necessary to bring before the church? Once you open that door it can be a slippery slope to any and all petitions. Historically I have talked about issues and offered congregants the ability to go to places like the ACLJ website and sign up for themselves. However when an issue drives at issues such as the Sanctity of Life there are times where I may offer a petition for those who wish to sign. It is never forced and no one is hovering and counting who does or does not sign. No notes are taken as to whomever wishes to abstain.
I am a big believer of Christians engaging culture and being active in Gods creation, not just filling a pew. When it comes time to protest or petition it needs to be a major issue such as the sanctity of life, public prayer, acts of congress to stifle Christianity (can you really stifle God? No way!). We simply cannot spend all hours filling out petitions and protesting, yet there are times to act. I am still working this out as a pastor and a leader. How do you handle these things? What is your philosophy?
Well this is a start, hopefully it will get better!
