A Call for the Church to Maintain Prophetic Distance in Political and Social Issues
Political and social issues can be a precarious sphere to navigate, especially in a country in which political and social issues are increasingly being viewed from the extremes of the two dominant political persuasions, far-left and far-right wings. It could be easy for a person or the church to be drawn into these conversations in a way that does damage to the Christian witness. However, human beings are by nature social and political beings, as such, we cannot sincerely claim to be apolitical. Even if that were possible, being apolitical would be cutting ourselves off from being able to contribute meaningfully to the shaping of our society through necessary political and social actions. We need to get involved, but the question is, “how can the church get involved without being too involved?” The term “church” in this article refers to congregations, denominations, pastors, and any leader who could speak on behalf of a body of Christians.
Footnotes
1 Brian McLaren, “Prophetic Distance and the Perils of Picking a Winner,” Sojourners, 6 August 2008, https://sojo.net/articles/prophetic-distance-and-perils-picking-winner.
2 McLaren, “Prophetic Distance and the Perils of Picking a Winner.”
3 McLaren, “Prophetic Distance and the Perils of Picking a Winner.”
4 McLaren, “Prophetic Distance and the Perils of Picking a Winner.”
5 McLaren, “Prophetic Distance and the Perils of Picking a Winner.”
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