When Worlds Collide

When Worlds Collide

Many would say that the church has become too political. That politics should never be discussed in church.

To quote Josh Howerton, "It's not that the church has become political. It's that politics became spiritual"

Church history and scripture are filled with God's people actively engaging their government on moral matters.

Preachers like;

• Peter Muhlenberg who, during the fight for American independence, regularly spoke out from the pulpit about tyranny. At one point in a church service, after preaching, he took off his minister's robe and revealed his militia soldier uniform, went on to join the army and fight for God-given rights.

• Henry Beecher, who spoke out from the pulpit against slavery, went so far as to raise money for rifles to help the anti slavery movement. The rifles became known as Beecher's Bibles.

Imagine telling Henry Beecher.... Pastor, you should stay out of politics. His answer would have been that he wasn't preaching about slavery because Congress was debating it. He was preaching about slavery because human beings were made in the image of God and were being enslaved. Politics had entered the territory that belonged to morality and theology.

What happens when issues the Church has spoken about for thousands of years suddenly become political issues? Does the Church surrender that ground? Do we stop speaking because politicians have started speaking?

Do biblical convictions become off-limits because they've made their way into legislation, elections and courtrooms? Or do we recognize that sometimes the Church hasn't stepped into the political world—the political world has stepped into ours?

There are moments when two worlds collide.

In this message, we're going to look at what Scripture says about the Church, government, and our responsibility as followers of Jesus when politics enters the territory of morality, theology, and biblical truth.