All the recent flap over the comments of pastor Jeremiah Wright illustrates an important point. It’s not really about his comments, or if Obama himself supported them (or heard them at all), it’s not even about racism — those are all political issues and have been discussed elsewhere ad nauseum without resolution (issues which we will not discuss here as they are irrelevant to the point).
But one issue hasn’t been discussed much and missed entirely by the media. What was Pastor Wright doing spending week after week ranting on political points instead of teaching the Word of God?
There’s nothing wrong with Christians being involved in politics — in fact, as a steward of the country it is your Christian duty to be involved. But that is an individual responsibility, not the church in general. The church in general should teach the Word of God so people can make distinctions themselves. All these groups spending time on matters other than the Word of God distract from the main mission of the Church — preparing the saints for the work of God.
For a pastor as well, being involved in politics is not only acceptable, but encouraged. But that does not mean the main message in church should be political. Pastor Wright could (should) have found other outlets for his political views, not the Sunday pulpit. If going to church becomes a political rally, why go at all?
If a Christian sits in a church which systematically teaches through the entire Bible, no such political discussions are needed — each person will be well-equipped to make political judgments by following what God has to say. But if a pastor neglects the Word of God, nothing else will substitute and his flock will be ill-prepared to perform on the battlefield.
For all those pastors who spend days and weeks on matters other than the Bible we have one question — when did the Word of God become insufficient? Are politics and pot-lucks (and this weekend, easter egg hunts) more important? Pastors need to spend more time teaching the Bible, line by line, verse by verse (through the entire Bible), and less time sermonizing.
It’s a complete failure of many pastors to teach the Word of God which leads to the ignorance of most of those occupying a pew today, and to the impotence of the Church in general. Those pastors will have to give account to God on their stewardship of their responsibility to their flock, and sadly many will fail. And for the failure of many pastors to equip the flock for the work of God, many Christians will be ineffective in their work for Christ.
For the word of God is living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 KJV)