In my thirty-two years of ministry at Ginghamsburg I had never asked anyone about their political affiliations, but I was ready to take the bold leap of faith and do so right in the middle of one of my sermons. I have found that some of the good and influential people at Ginghamsburg assume that others in the church hold the same political ideologies based on sharing common theological views. But in fact this is not always the case.
So I posed the question: “How many of you would identify yourself as voting primarily for issues and candidates on the Democrat ticket?” About 25-30% of the people in the Saturday evening worship celebration raised their hand. I had reserved about ten seats in the front row and asked one of the people who raised their hands to come and sit in the first seat. “Now, who votes consistently Republican?” About 35-40% of those gathered responded by raising their hands. I asked one of them to come forward and sit next to the Democrat. There were some underlying chuckles and comments heard in the congregation but people were beginning to get the point as I went on to ask Tea Party folk, Libertarians, and Independents the same question and then chose one from each group to come forward and sit next to the others. Point made: Christian unity is not the same as political uniformity! There were more than a few couples in the room where the spouses didn’t share the same political ideologies. When we become members of a local church no one asks about our political affiliations. Allegiance to Christ is the only allegiance that is required to be a member of Christ’s body.
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