The Perils of Pastoral Endorsements

FALWELL CONFIDENTIAL
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The Liberty Alliance http://www.falwell.com/

From: Jonathan Falwell
Date: May 30, 2008

The Perils of Pastoral Endorsements

It seems as if everyone is out to get pastors who dare to tread into the waters of political endorsements. Over the past few days, both John Hagee and Rod Parsley have fallen victim to the Jeremiah Wright Syndrome. Here are the rules of this syndrome: If a pastor endorses a candidate for office, every sermon he’s ever preached will be dug up and used against that candidate, subsequently forcing the candidate to denounce his endorsement.

It’s one of the new vicious cycles of politics.

This is an interesting situation. While politicians actively seek out endorsements from well-known leaders in various fields, this practice might soon disappear because long-buried skeletons keep turning up in the endorsers’ closets.

However, it may not be such a bad thing to see the endorsement environment transformed.

Here’s why. Endorsements really serve no particular purpose. Endorsements only raise the “star power” of candidates, which is not nearly as important as the political stances the candidates actually take.

Instead of falling victim to star power, I believe pastors, business leaders, medical professionals, educators and those from all other walks of life need to stand up for their beliefs and vote according to the candidates’ values. We should be talking about the vital issues and helping the candidates who most closely agree with our beliefs. That’s all that really matters.

For instance, in the current presidential election there are a number of issues that are of utmost importance to us, including: safeguarding our nation; supporting our troops; protecting life (born and unborn); preserving the traditional family; and strengthening our economy.

We should spend less time worrying about endorsements and more time understanding what the candidates actually believe and how their values will affect our future. Pastors shouldn’t be worried about making endorsements. Rather, we should be focused on speaking the truth in love. We should be sharing the biblical perspective on the issues and simply instructing our parishioners to vote for the candidate who most closely resembles our beliefs.

I pastor a large church with many thousands in attendance each week and the potential for millions more who watch or listen to our broadcasts. My hope is that those listening to my sermons will hear biblical truth and practical counsel on how to apply those truths to everyday life.

I want people to hear that all life is precious to God and we should vote for the candidates who want to protect life. I want people to hear that the traditional family is important to God and we should vote for the candidates who will protect the family. I want people to hear that the Bible implores us to protect ourselves from those who seek to destroy us and we should vote for the candidates who want to protect us. I want people to hear the biblical admonishment that we should lift up the less fortunate, to love our neighbors as ourselves and then vote for the candidates who believe this, as well.

Endorsements are simply not important; acting on our beliefs is. We must be able to defend what we believe and know why we believe it so we can share our belief with others. When we have this grounding, we won’t worry about finding the candidate with the best endorsements, we’ll support the candidate who is most closely aligned with our core beliefs.

Do we have a perfect system? No. Do we have perfect candidates? Never. Do we have the best political system on the planet? Absolutely. But it is only as good as the people for whom it serves.
Let’s stop worrying about who endorsed who, past statements that can be taken out of context and trite political posturing. Instead, let’s determine which candidate will best preserve our nation for our children and our grandchildren.

As a Christian, I believe we find answers — whether political, social or personal — within the pages of the Bible. In God’s Word we find the basis for our belief system and practical applications for living. When our belief system is anchored in the Bible, we can determine what the important issues are, what our positions should be and how to act on our beliefs. When this becomes our priority, we can raise the bar on political campaigns to a far more productive and palatable function of our culture.

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