Hudson: Pastors, Are You Prepared To Lose Your Job Or Half Your Congregation To Tell The Truth? Jesus Was.

AL.com Op-Ed:  Pastors, Are You Prepared to Lose Your Job or Half Your Congregation to Tell the Truth? Jesus Was., by Blake Hudson (Dean, Cumberland):

Remember when Jesus got really angry? In Matthew 21: 12-17 of the Bible, Jesus entered the temple courts and literally flipped tables over and drove out people who were exploiting a place of worship for economic gain. This was a righteous anger, not a sinful anger. But of all the things that Jesus experienced in his life―the abuse, the persecution, the torture—this was the thing that made Him truly angry.

I could not help but think of this event upon reading about Donald Trump’s recent venture selling Bibles for $60. ...

I have been a member of Baptist churches my entire life. Since 2016 I have noticed a demonstrated lack of critical truth preached from the pulpit when those truths run counter to conservative political leanings. On abortion, gender identity, and a variety of other issues associated with the political left, those pastors have spoken out, linking scripture with the policy issues of our day. But when it comes to the dishonesty, malice, sexual impropriety, and, in this case, exploitation of the Christian faith for economic and political gain, crickets.

And there is a clear reason why―the modern church, unlike the early church, is founded on a corporate model. A pastor has a congregation of shareholders who fully fund the church. When that congregation is predominantly of one political type, a pastor risks losing a significant portion of the church, and more importantly, their primary source of funding, by speaking truth. This puts missions at risk, as it does the jobs of often hundreds of church employees dependent on the corporate model of modern-day church financing—the donations of congregants. In a world where the evangelical church has wrapped the cross in the American flag, it is exceedingly difficult for pastors to speak truth. ...

I understand the desire of many faith leaders to stay out of politics, and indeed generally think sticking to the Bible and not politics is what pastors should do. But sometimes the scripture is relevant to the issues society faces, including its politics. We cannot pick and choose which truths to speak. As some point it must be worth the cost of losing a job or a congregation to treat unbiblical acts of our nation’s leaders equally. Jesus knew what the righteous anger He expressed in the Temple would mean for His ministry. Within a week His ministry would end and He would be crucified. We should be willing to sacrifice far less to convey the truth.

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