God in the Booth

Every time an election rolls around—federal or otherwise—I get a few questions and comments from people at the church regarding our stance on politics or, perhaps more accurately, our non-stance.

There are some that really want us to be the kind of leaders that stand up and stick-it-to-the-man. They want us to address the issues, speak out against abortion, talk about candidates we support, etc.

A little while back, I walked out into the parking lot to catch a breath of fresh air after a song set at Westwinds and noticed every car in the parking lot was plastered with fliers with a picture of an aborted fetus and an urge to vote pro-life. I spent 20 minutes running through the parking lot with a couple of others to gather them up for the recycling bin. Not because I'm not pro-life but because the fliers were extremely tacky and no one asked permission. Didn't want anyone thinking we actually arranged for the parking lot littering.

Last weekend, I walked out of the auditorium to find stacks of “non-partisan” voter guides. Of course, they were from the Michigan Family Forum, which is doing some honorable things, but the guide is certainly not non-partisan. Recycling bin.

I had a quick conversation with a woman in the lobby who saw me gathering the guides. She asked, “don’t you want to encourage people to vote?”

Yes, we want to encourage everyone to vote. We encourage our staff to do so. We will encourage our congregation to do so.

There are many reasons why Westwinds does not get its politic on. Quite frankly, I am not interested in the lengthy conversations and smack talk that we would be opening ourselves up to. But, most every time I share what I just said with the political go-getters at church it never appeases them. And then comes the smack talk.

If you are looking for language to use in order to explain to your people why you aren’t donning an elephant or a donkey or a moose or a hawk or a sunflower or Lady Liberty or a spider or a marijuana leaf, start here . . .

Here are a couple of things everyone at Westwinds should know (and your church as well).

• It’s not our role. Taking a political stance for any candidate or policy that good Christian men and women line up on both sides of is not our job as pastors. Some will want to make a case for praying that God will “go into the voting booth with every person” so they make the “right choice” for president (an actual quote I heard this week). But, that is preposterous. We would be hard-pressed to articulate a biblical politic that can be stamped on the USA and I’m sure if we did the results would surprise many (I don’t know if you knew this but the USA isn’t God’s number one priority). Pastors can certainly speak to issues of the value of life, sexuality, the poor, and many of the issues that are talked about in the political arena but we believe endorsing a candidate is an abuse of our power.

• Though there have been very few cataclysmic instances where this was enforced, it is against the law for any church or 501 (c)(3) organization to endorse or oppose specific candidates. Therefore, voting guides and pamphlets that even hint at a partisan endorsement are a violation and put that church at risk for investigation. To read more about Charities, Churches, and Politics go to irs.gov.
  

Elder Role

Scripture gives limited instruction on the role of an Elder. We are well aware of the “qualifications” from I Timothy and Titus but when it comes to role and expectations, the Bible gives us a good deal of freedom to craft the day-to-day duties of an Elder. Of course, there are the regular pastoral duties of an elder but job descriptions and the “who handles what” between pastoral staff and a volunteer Elder board still need to be defined.

So, we have spent a good deal of time ironing out what the role of Elder is to look like at Westwinds. Below are my chicken-scratch notes defining the bullet points. Some of this is based on clear scriptural directive and some based on our own church’s needs, desires, personality, and structure. This description will also help define expectations for any new elders who join our team.


PROTECT
• Protect the church—defend her. Spread good cheer about her.
• Protect the staff—make sure to shut down any negative talk about any individual, talk them up.

TEACH
• Teach individuals about living well—be a role model, be authentic, live the abundant life, take care of yourself
• Mission—know it and talk about it all the time. Pepper conversation with it. We cannot talk too much about why we do what we do.
• Vision—cast it. Dream with folks.
• Values—our church has a personality. Love it and live it. Our values are Imagination, Permission, Authenticity, and Community.
• Target market—this is somewhat of a misnomer because we don’t really have one. Rather, we understand the type of person that will be attracted to Westwinds and celebrate our personality.
• Doxa—our core orthodoxy. Mountains we will die on.
• Basic theology—call it Theology 101. Theology Proper.
• Narrative theology—do your homework on this one
• Imago Dei—While this is a huge emphasis for us in recent days, the exploration of a more holistic atonement theology is key

REWARD
• Staff
• Coriolis
• Volunteers

--our Elders are proactive in showing appreciation in tangible ways

CHECK
• Attitudes
• Overall church direction
• Strategic plan and initiatives

BALANCE
• Dreams with responsibility—on one hand, we never want to stop dreaming and stretching, on the other hand we need to be careful how we launch into new initiatives in regard to timing and budget, etc.
• Hardship with calling—and then sometimes, no matter what timing and budget look like, God jumps in our face and says DO THIS NOW

MEASURE
• Church health
• Leadership health
• Numbers—doesn’t matter what you say or what you have heard, butts in the seats count for something. Not everything. Something.
• Budget/fiscal responsibility
• Communication strategies and initiatives

PRAY
• Wisdom
• Discernment
• Protection
• Courage

SEEK
• Knowledge
• Understanding
• Guidance
• Holiness

LEAD
• Be opinion leaders—perception counts. Spread good cheer.
• Plant seeds of promise
• Counsel
• Cast vision
• Be actively involved in ministry

SOLVE
• Problems
• Address issues
• “own” crises

STUDY
• Stay fresh in your own spirit
• The history of Westwinds
• The history of Westwinds staff
• General leadership
• Theology
• Aggressive/progressive church methodology