In a recent discussion between church leaders I had an interesting thought after one of the men suggested that Christian leaders should not be involved in things that seem “political.” I had the thought, “What if we never spoke about political things, or religious things, again?” What I suggest is not to limit speech and discourse about certain issues, but what if we just categorized things into two categories: (1) things that matter, and (2) things that don’t matter.
What if we then just spoke about things that matter. If we would do this, then we, as shepherds and leaders, would have to ask ourselves, “Should we talk about things that matter or things that don’t matter to the church?” I wonder how much we would have to talk about if we limited our speech to only things that really matter. How many of those things in the area called “religious” really matter? How many of those things in the area called the political realm really matter? Now I am not espousing a certain political perspective here, only considering that we categorize things as those that matter or those that do not.
What makes something matter? Perhaps if it has the potential to influence life for the better or for the worse. To say we’re not allowed to speak of God in a public school because it is “religious” is a debate we have been having for a long time. But maybe we should change the question – should we be able to discuss things that matter in schools? What about speaking about issues that seem “political” in church. Are these things that matter?
Actually we have our own form of separation of church and state in the church. It is defined as “don’t talk about issues of state in church.” In fact, we had this view in the church before it got into the Government. I wonder if it spread from the church to the public area and now is hindering the advancement of the Kingdom? Perhaps those who espouse this view are not too different in practice than the secular humanists who want to categorize what can be spoken of in the public area? Perhaps the question should be, “Do these issues of “state” influence the lives (even the spiritual lives) of church members?” I would say that they do, just as issues of the spirit effect the lives of nonbelievers. In an atmosphere of free exchange and compassion shouldn’t we rather speak of things that matter? I would say that if we do not speak of things that matter we will become irrelevant as well as irreverent.
Proverbs 25:26, “ Good people who don’t stand strong against evil are like springs that have been polluted or pools that have turned dirty and muddy.”