On Politics and the Parish

Politics, politics, politics everywhere… from Capitol Hill to Gospel Hill and everywhere in between. In preparation for the recent elections, and the recent annual church conference, my mind (and perhaps yours, too) has been preoccupied with issues of power, authority, justice, bureaucracy, economics, etc. And it occurs to me that church polity and national politics have much more in common than I’d like to believe… 

For instance, there are perennial struggles between small and large units of governance: state v. nation, congregation v. denomination. Which unit should control what policies? What happens if the smaller faction disagrees with the larger? To what extent does the smaller defer to the larger? And then there is the task of prioritizing issues: institutional maintenance v. institutional reform, focus on caring for “us” v. considering the welfare of “all.” A statement like “I always vote Democrat” is obviously political in nature, but so is “All Christians ought to attend church.” 

And so I will pose the question to you –participants in both congregation and country: Where do your truest allegiances lie? With institutions? With particular types of people or schools of thought? With a particular way of life? With the goodness or survival of humanity? And are your convictions consistent between public and parish life? I do not ask to judge, but rather to raise consciousness. I consider it part of my civic duty... :)