Just a few days ago at Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas I was disturbed to see a political rally. Yes, a political rally in a house of worship. This rally led to a chant of “Let’s Go Brandon” which has been the war cry for those who continue to support former president Donald Trump. This chant is disturbing in many ways since it is the alternative of the profane version of the chant.
In case you didn’t know it, Cornerstone Church is the worldwide headquarters for televangelist John Hagee. They listed a ridiculous disclaimer which stated: "This past week, Cornerstone church facilities were by an outside organization. Cornerstone church is not associated with this organization and does not endorse their views."
Isn't this YOUR building? This is a CHURCH.
Let me just lay it down here - absolutely NO church or preacher should be endorsing ANY politician or political party. This is an abomination to God. The church is not the place for this kind of activity and these houses of worship should never be the host of a political rally. It doesn’t matter how you want to slant it. There is no place for politics in the pulpit. If you are doing this and you call yourself a Christian, you should be ashamed of yourself. When you support a politician, you are directly creating division. I would like to know why today that people assume Republicans are the only Christians? That is nonsense. When you support one side, you are alienating the other. I will not attend a church who chants for or against my political preference.
The church should be about bringing people together in serving God. The eternal agenda is much more important than any political one. The only platform the church should support is the cross of Christ where He died for our sins so that we all could be reconciled to Him. The church has gotten away from that today. Our priority is leading people to Christ. Nothing else matters. Even if the church promotes a political party what does it profit God? It’s only temporary. God is eternal.
I have seen too many evangelicals align themselves with Donald Trump either openly or with subtle hints in their commentaries during their sermons. This needs to stop. In a time when our country needs unity, the church isn't helping and continues to promote these political rallies which is further damaging the reputation of the church to non-believers. You cannot serve God and politics. You have to choose.
When Jesus was here He did not have political rallies in support or against anyone. The Jews had hoped that a Messiah would come to be an earthly ruler and overthrow the government but clearly that wasn't His purpose so if that was the example then shouldn't we follow that now? I hear several who want to say that they support a candidate because they are bringing back Biblical values in some way when in fact these candidates are pandering to Christians just to get their votes. Even if a political candidate does push through Biblical agendas how long do you think it is going to last? Shouldn't we be more concerned about the eternal than the temporary?
Jesus commissioned us to go into all the world to preach the gospel. He didn't say to rally for political agendas for Jesus. It's time to get back to the main thing. A man or woman in a political office is not going to save us. Jesus is the only one that can. Somehow we think that God needs our help to promote his agenda in the world's political system.
There is always talk of the separation of Church and State but I think there needs to be a separation of State from the Church. It is time to stop these rallies and fueling the anger and bitterness that has exploded over the past several years. The only way to get back to it is to get back to it and resist the need to promote politics from the pulpit (or those who rent the pulpit).
