Let the Church Speak
Beginning in 1954, a provision in the tax code called the Johnson Amendment has stated that churches and other nonprofit organizations could lose their tax-exempt status if they participate in, or intervene in "any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office." In 2025 the IRS conceded that churches could endorse political candidates from the pulpit and these things would be looked at as “family conversations.” But what is the role of the church within the political sphere? How should the church, or the non-profit, approach the questions of political conversation? The idea of the church speaking to the political issues of its day is not new, nor has it failed to be discussed ad nauseum. But, what is the place of the church in speaking to the political and social issues of its day? In reality, no provision, law, or code can silence what the church has to say. The issue is that the church has struggled to speak what God has called on her to speak. The church let go of its voice. But the church has the most powerful truth to share when it is truly the church God calls it to be.
The church speaks when it shares the true gospel
There is no social or political issue that is immune from the gospel. The church is called to share the full and complete good news of Jesus. When the church loses sight of grace and, instead, preaches morality to a lost world it becomes a pseudo-Pharisee to the world. It is an expectation that if everyone would just clean up their act then Jesus would show back up and things would be wonderful. That just isn’t the gospel. The gospel is the recognition that no one can clean up their act. Jesus came and offered Himself as a substitute sacrifice, a worthy and full payment of the debt of sin. He satisfied the claim. People don’t have to clean up before coming to Jesus. They can’t. The church is charged with carrying the banner of the gospel and sharing it with the world. Too often, the church becomes inwardly focused and waits for the world to show up on Sunday at their door. Voting a certain person into office won’t change the world. The gospel will and is.
The church speaks when it loves its neighbor
Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment of Scripture is. Underneath that question was an interesting quasi-political debate of the first century Jewish world. There were two prevailing lines of reasoning about what was most important in life. Was it obedience, or love? The response of Jesus is actually affirming one side of this debate. That response is to love your neighbor. Now, following that through further, Jesus is pressed as to who is a neighbor. Jesus’ response to that question is a parable. That parable reveals that you are to be the neighbor. Don’t try and determine who your neighbor is, but go and live like you are the neighbor to the world. The church is struggling to love its neighbor, which is really that the church is not being the neighbor to the world. The church speaks loudly when it is the neighbor. When it does acts of kindness to people. When it shows grace and mercy. When it loves rather than condemns. Go and be the neighbor to the world. Doing so will speak volumes more than any endorsement.
The church speaks when it prays diligently
It is an interesting paradox in Scripture. Jesus says to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Paul says to honor the emperor. Throughout the Bible it is shown that the sovereignty of God is paramount. No leader is in power without God’s decision. God, and His permissive will, work and function truly outside of man’s ability to understand. There is no president of the USA who has not been allowed to be there by the sovereign understanding of God. That does not mean every president is carrying out the will of God. Whether left, right, or somewhere in the middle. No president is a savior. The church’s trust should not be in anything other than Almighty God. The church ought to pray and the church ought to pray with diligence and fervor. A prayer is far more powerful than a vote. You should vote. But you should pray far more. The church must pray like the world depends on it. Because it does.
No government can take away the church’s ability to speak. The church has always had the words to say, the question is whether or not the church is actually speaking the words of God to the world. Who is the church trusting? Is it trusting in earthly political powers? Or is it trusting the one true God? The church speaks volumes when it chooses to speak with the love, grace, and mercy of Christ.