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Sunday's piece from @DavidAFrench on the risks of over-identifying Christianity with a political party may provide a good conversation-starter for church elders to have. Some questions you and your fellow elders might discuss: (1/7) https://frenchpress.thedispatch.com/p/the-cultural-consequences-of-very
1) What problems come from letting ourselves be identified with a political party?
2) What steps can we as a church take to work against over-identification/subversion?
2) What steps can we as a church take to work against over-identification/subversion?
3) Is it possible any of the unity we feel as a church comes not from the gospel but from our shared partisan convictions? IOW: is there room in our church both for Matthew the tax collector (can work with Rome) and Simon the Zealot (can't work with Rome) to follow Jesus?
4) How would some measure of political tension in our church over disputable matters actually be a sign of gospel health?
5) When does the point come when we as a church should take a public stand not just against unjust policies but against a party as a whole (as the Barmen Declaration did with the Nazis)?
6) Perhaps trickiest of all, how do we avoid identifying ourselves with one party WHILE ALSO standing up for biblical truths represented by this or that party?
You and your fellow elders might come to different answers on these kinds questions. But that gives you the opportunity to learn how to disagree with one another maturely and graciously and then to model such maturity for the congregation.
