McLean Bible Church Lead Pastor David Platt weighed in on how Christians should engage the government from a biblical perspective, emphasizing that while it’s not an easy task, it’s vital.
The pastor began by recounting in a Secret Church simulcast titled “God, Government, and the Gospel” how it all unfolded in June 2019 when, as he was nearing the end of a service and about to take communion, his staff informed him that President Trump was about to arrive and had requested prayer.
Mindful of the scriptures related to the responsibility of Christians to pray for their leaders and those in positions of authority, Platt told his church that what unites them is not their politics or ethnicity — over 100 ethnicities attend McLean Bible Church — but the Gospel and God’s Word. Platt then brought the president on stage and prayed for him.
“I immediately knew though that what happened would be received and perceived in different ways by everyone from press to members of our church,” he said.
Such expectations were confirmed soon after as Platt was scrutinized by the national mainstream media for praying with the president. He immediately wrote a letter to members of McLean Bible Church explaining what had happened and how he intended to continue approaching ministry.
Platt said he soon found himself in the middle of a “social media firestorm” as accusations and derision began swirling. He reflected on how he managed to make nearly everyone, no matter their politics, unhappy with him within a short period of time.
His experience of praying for the president led him to think about how he and Christians around the world relate to governments, including Christians who live in nations where it is illegal to gather and worship.
Government affects so much, is extremely complex, and contains a breadth of issues to consider where sincere Christians disagree, he said. A particular challenge is the language that surrounds government regarding political orientation and identity. When the matter arises as to whether the United States is a “Christian nation,” he said, it necessitates asking what people mean when they say that.
“If you mean that, ‘Did many of the founders of the United States generally believe the Bible?’ the answer is yes. That doesn’t mean they were all Christians by any means. Or maybe you mean that Christian beliefs provide the foundation for many of the cultural values still held by many of the citizens of the United States today. The answer to that question could be yes or it could be no.”
He continued: “Without question, the founders wrote that all men are created equal with certain unalienable rights. But the white men who drafted those words didn’t apply them to hundreds of thousands of black people in their midst, or women for that matter. Which doesn’t sound very Christian.”
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SOURCE: Christian Post, Brandon Showalter
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