Editor’s Note:  In the coming weeks, people everywhere will be going to the ballot box to express their hearts and minds at the polls.  The heightened awareness of the elections is an opportunity for preachers to deliver relevant messages about matters of great significance.  Election time raises many questions for preachers:

- How to appropriately handle the interplay of faith and politics
- How to express Biblical truth in a political context without hindering the gospel
- How to avoid violating legal parameters set for non-profit organizations
- How to articulate God’s timeless truths in Scripture at such a strategic time.

Each church and pastor must make their own conclusions about these matters.  The purpose of the article below is not to dictate what you will preach.  It is to establish that there is clear legal protection for you to address issues of faith without fear of legal ramifications.  Gary McCaleb, Senior Counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (www.telladf.org), shares insights for pastors about the legal freedom to preach about biblical truth in a political context.

Preaching in Election Season
Gary McCaleb
Senior Counsel, Alliance Defense Fund

When the righteous triumph, there is great elation;
but when the wicked rise to power, men go into hiding.

Proverbs 28:12

Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

Acts 4:18-20

Undoubtedly there is interplay between the realms of faith and politics.  And, of course, confusion often arises when the two are mixed.  The Alliance Defense Fund’s mission is to help defend the right to hear and speak the truth of the gospel and God’s word at all appropriate times and places.

Some would have us believe that there is no place or time when politics and faith can appropriately mix—where truth can be spoken and defended.  A brief reflection on this thought reveals how dangerous and unreasonable that assumption is.  If there is no place for faith to impact the realm of politics, then it is questionable whether there is a place for faith to impact life at all.  And the ramifications of muffling faith and biblical truth at the critical junction of election time can be devastating for society.  Consider the result of godly voices being silenced while giving an unbridled platform to those who reject God.  Common sense shows that this is insanity and robs the Church of its calling to be salt and light.