God, Politics, and The Church

Leading The Church has always had its challenges, 

but there are things about this particular moment that would have seemed unimaginable less than a decade ago. Political differences have caused great disunity in the body of Christ and the polarization only seems to be increasing. Rather than giving power to the conflict or giving up, we choose hope; hope that Jesus is risen from the dead and that there is a better way forward. 

In early July 2024, at Parkcrest Church in Long Beach, 90+ leaders gathered together to be encouraged in their calling and to become better equipped to do the difficult work of ministry.  We were privileged to have Pastor Rich Villodas with us. His message, along with the other curated resources we've included here, are intended to support you and those you lead. We pray they will.  

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."  (Psalm 20:7)

Rich is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church with more than seventy-five countries represented in Elmhurst, Queens. Rich spent some time with us, encouraging and challenging a room full of leaders to see our politics - and all of life - through the lens of Jesus and not the other way around. 

Books 

Organizations

King of Kings Commitments

Will Vucuruvich, along with a few other Arizona-based pastors, wrote the following in anticipation of a challenging election season in 2020. These commitments were used to help disciple God's people at a time when they were tempted to opt for distancing and disparaging instead. 

If you're curious how these might be used in your church as we near another contentious election, reach out to Will: wvucurevich@gracelb.org

1. Worship (Ex 20:2-3; Psalm 115:1-8; Phil 2:9-11): I commit my allegiance to King Jesus over all other idols and ideologies.

2. Love of Neighbor (Phil 2:1-11; Mt 22:34-40): I commit to participating politically, in word and deed, as a means of loving and serving my neighbor rather than just serving my own interests.

3. Image of God (Gen 1:26; James 3:9): I commit to honoring the image of God in all people by treating them with respect and abstaining from dehumanizing caricatures.

4. Biblical Wisdom (Psalm 119; 2 Tim 3:16): I commit to having my views challenged by the Biblical Story rather than using the Bible to proof-text my predetermined positions.

5. Fruitful Speech (Gal 5:22-23; James 3): I commit to engaging in discourse with speech that’s marked by the fruit of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 

6. Humble Learning (James 1:19; 1 Cor 12:12-26): I commit to being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger as I seek to learn from the varied perspectives within the body of Christ.

7. Remove the Log (Mt 7:1-5): I commit to giving more attention to critiquing the potential flaws in my own leanings, conduct, and sin than I give to scrutinizing others. 

8. Biblical Justice (Isa 1:17; Micah 6:8; Mt 23:23): I commit to understanding and pursuing a Biblical vision of justice. This means I will not minimize Scripture’s repeated call to seek justice and I will allow Scripture to critique popular conceptions of justice in our culture.

9. Peacemaking (Mt 18:15-17; Rom 12:17-21): I commit to face-to-face conflict resolution rather than arguments online.

10. Loving Enemies (Mt 5:43-44; 1 Tim 2:1-4): I commit to loving and praying for my so-called “enemies,” especially those whom I have the hardest time loving and praying for.