Brent Waldemarsen, Pastor of Harvest Community Church (of God), in Willmar, Minnesota is in the middle of a state-wide controversy.
While I do not know the individuals involved or situation first-hand there are a number of news reports that give us a good indication of what's going on. Apparently, Waldemarsen attended a meeting of a local ministerial association (of which he is not a member) and secretly taped the state Senate Majority Leader, Dean Johnson, who was speaking. Johnson made some comments regarding gay marriage that inappropriately implied a close relationship with Minnesota Supreme Court judges. Waldemarsen's tape quickly got into the hands of Minnesota for Marriage, an activist organization. Various media have picked up the audio and transcripts of the speech and expanded it into a full-blown controversy.
The whole gay marriage issue is a hot potato to begin with, but now with this development the various sides on this issue have become even more inflamed than ever. Advocates of traditional marriage are upset with the senator and his comments. Those supporting gay marriage believe that Waldemarsen's tactics were immoral, if not illegal.
Without getting into the whole gay marriage issue, this problem illustrates a much deeper dilemma: To what extent do we get involved in political issues around us? I know that these issues touch people at their deepest convictions, and that many well-intentioned Christians and church leaders believe that their involvement is necessary for the sake of society.
I wonder, however, if in getting involved in the politics around us in the name of the church there is a real danger of our proclamation of the Good News of Jesus being hampered and thwarted? Instead of witness and mission based on Jesus-modeled servanthood, we can easily sell out to the power games and systems of the world and in the process confirm to the world the spiritual bankruptcy of the church.
This is a discussion that rarely happens in our circles, at least in a thorough and constructive manner. I hope that we will not shy away from struggling with an understanding and practice that reflects our holiness-oriented faith and practice.
Some web links covering and commenting on this story:
2 comments:
Lloyd, where do you find this stuff. So do you Google Church of God Pastors on a daily basis? Good job on throwing this stuff out there for discussion. How bizarre. I agree with you on the question of involvement, in the name of the church, how our focus may be skewed from our true purpose. I would also be interested in how state and and nat'l feel about such things. There I go talking structure and accountability.
Andy, I'd like to impress you by saying that I spend hours daily tirelessy search the Internet for scuttlebutt. The truth is, however, that I have some automated Google searches providing me XML feeds on certain keywords.
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