As many of you know, in addition to other activities, I’m running for an elected office. You can find that link in the Title Bar. I also work with churches to help them improve and grow. Having a bi-vocational pastoral role is not new to me. While serving as the police chief in one community, I was also serving a church for a time.
The concept of how political a pastor should be is an age old question: one without really any solid answers other than a few Biblical references that would indicate that we should be good citizens and respect authority. Recently the Presbyterian Church (USA) has been toying with the notion of prohibiting church leaders from involving themselves in anything they deem “Christian Nationalism.” I find this amusing given they also advocate for their leaders and congregants to be strongly engaged in social issues. Such is the fallacy of religion involving us sinners.
I came across this article by way of the NEGOP Newsletter, written by the state chair, Mary Jane Truemper. I felt it was worth posting here.
| Letter from the Chair Fellow Republicans, This week, my friend Rob Rohrbough, who is a thoughtful, faith-filled, and reasoned thinker shared with me some of his thoughts on the necessity of the Christian vote. I want to pass on his thoughts to you. The Bill of Rights to the US Constitution includes in the First Amendment “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This right is important to people of all faiths. We have seen in Communist countries where faith in God is suppressed, attacked, and/or abolished by government in order to have government replace God as the arbiter of our conscience and conduct. We have history to show us and our faith to guide us, so let us not sleepwalk into allowing it to happen in the Nebraska or the United States at large. Together, We Win! In Liberty and in Truth, Mary Jane Truemper Chairman, Nebraska Republican Party “Pews to Politics Why Christians Need to be Involved in Politics Saturday, August 8, 2026 Rob Rohrbough Have you ever thought politics was dirty and messy? As Christians, the most important thing in our lives is our relationship with Jesus Christ. Does it stop there? What about the Great Commission? What about defending our right to carry out The Great Commission? Or even practice Christianity? Do you know that there is a movement to take away your right to evangelize? In 1964 the Department of Education implemented the results mainly of three court cases — McCollum v Board of Education in 1948, Engel v Vitale in 1962, and Murray v Curlett in 1963 — to remove God, prayer, and the Bible from public schools. How can we expect the Christian culture upon which our nation was founded to continue? That precedent has encouraged movement to a more secular society over the past 60+ years. Church attendance has dropped and more people consider capitalism to be evil and selfish. Young people in particular are starting to consider socialism a preferable economic model. With that background, how can church-going Christians be content to let others determine how government should work? Who gets elected? There is an old cliché — if Christians do not get involved in politics, they will be ruled by those who do not believe nor share their values. Our current president put it even more strongly — “If Christians don’t get involved in politics, politics will erase their right to be Christians.” These are no idle speculations. I have observed the willful decline over six decades. So, what do we do? Register to vote if you haven’t already. Don’t register as an independent. Register in a party so you can have influence in it. Be sure your party supports Christian principles and values. Become active in it. Examine its platform so you know where it stands. Long term, influence the platform if it does not fully support those values. Once you are comfortable with your party’s principles, examine the candidates and how they align with those principles and your priorities as a Christian. Help them win in every way you can with your time, talent, and treasure. Short term, identify others who sit with you on that pew and are not active politically. Help them understand how important it is to get involved. You have several resources at your command to prepare you for the task. Here are a few from my Facebook page: Franklin Graham’s warning to Christians not to fall into Satan’s trap David Barton’s 43-minute assertion of America’s Christian founding and the need to return to Jesus Christ. Paula White-Cain’s call to engage David and Tim Barton’s answer to, “Does the church belong in politics?” And a few more: The sin of pietism — Federer video Silence Equals Consent This presentation by Pr. Rob McCoy (Charlie Kirk’s minister). How essential faith and politics were to our nation’s founding (Wallbuilders on 250th) The story we stopped telling (also Wallbuilders) Those who disagree with you know how to get out the vote, and they do not intend to allow Christianity to thrive. Lord of Hosts Church encourages their members to be active politically. Dr. Dodd at Westside Church does a good job. Some churches, including mine, do not encourage political activity. Does yours? Would the United States exist without the activism of preachers like the Muellenberg brothers? Would Christianity be one of the three major world religions had the Apostles Paul or Luke worried only about their own relationship with Christ? When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Proverbs 29:2 (KJV) “ |