Jump directly to the Content

Why Our Sunday School Disciples Christians in Politics

If churches don’t engage our members, pundits and memes will.
Why Our Sunday School Disciples Christians in Politics
Image: Illustration by Rick Szuecs / Source images: Arthobbit / Getty / Rahardi Creative / Envato

Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

That’s the most common response I get when I tell someone our church is hosting a Sunday school class on faith and politics this fall in the middle of the 2020 election season. We’re a growing, politically diverse congregation in the heart of downtown Indianapolis, so I understand the concern. Isn’t talking about politics a recipe for disaster? Won’t it just lead to division and disunity? Totally possible. But if we’re serious about discipleship and following Jesus in every area of life, we have to try. Politics can’t be off-limits when it comes to our formation as believers.

Name a topic and there are ready-made answers along partisan and ideological lines. From solutions to racial injustice to mitigating the spread of COVID-19, suspicion runs rampant. Hostility abounds. And in a climate like ours, many Americans are tempted—and taught—to believe the worst about their political opponents.

Almost ...

March
Support Our Work

Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month

Homepage Subscription Panel

Read These Next

Related
Austin Gutwein: Hoops of Hope
Austin Gutwein: Hoops of Hope
Even the youngest members of the church can be used powerfully by God. How can we empower more of them to pursue their ideas?
From the Magazine
The Evil Ideas Behind October 7
The Evil Ideas Behind October 7
The Hamas attacks in Israel have a grotesque ideological history and deserve unflinching moral judgment.
Editor's Pick
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
What Christians Miss When They Dismiss Imagination
Understanding God and our world needs more than bare reason and experience.
close