"It is written"

At Odyssey, Chris Erdman writes about preaching during politically charged times. The challenge, particularly during heated elections, is "to form congregations that remain more serious about discipleship than about the party affiliations and political opinions that could easily divide them," Chris notes. And here's his conclusion:

Preaching is always risky business and there may be no riskier time than when the nation’s needs loom large. But there may be no time more important for the church to be the church and for preachers to preach the Word. When we preach during a time of national election (or at any other time of political significance), we preach Jesus Christ and by doing so form congregations loyal first to Christ and who therefore can hold their political affiliations loosely. It is terribly easy for preachers to unwittingly allow the Word of God to be domesticated and nationalized—and there’s been too much of that tomfoolery in recent times. But it’s far more than tomfoolery, it’s a sin against Jesus Christ and his church; it puts the church in danger, and if the church is in danger than so is the nation.

Chris gives a personal example of putting these ideas into practice in his own preaching. The account is well worth reading.