Snippet: On Venezuela

Snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

No, I have nothing to say about the political situation regarding Venezuela except to encourage you to pray. But I’ve been wanting to write a Snippet post about this post by Trevin Wax, “The Pastor and the Pundit” (https://bit.ly/3YtYOsn), and this seems like the opportune time. Here’s the snippet:

“We shouldn’t expect pastors to be omnicompetent. Such expectations inflate the office beyond its biblical design and, ironically, flatten the contributions of lay Christians called to engage in law, politics, economics, and other fields.”

This reflects my philosophy on commenting on political policies.

And most people have no idea how hard it is to sort out what to even address as a matter of prayer. My thought: Why this, like taking Maduro, and not that, like bombing Iran?

My perspective was shaped by John Stott, who reminded church leaders that they are not policy experts, while some in their congregations are, and that aligning with political policy solutions that eventually fail brings disrepute to the gospel and the church’s ministry. In other words, when it comes to political policies and solutions to real problems, “stay in your lane.”

Staying in our lanes isn’t passive. We still address the problems as the Bible addresses them. And we encourage Christians to be informed citizens. We encourage Christians to think; we don’t tell them what to think.

And, yes, it’s not that simple. What if more pastors had addressed civil rights or Nazi policies? Those are real questions with complex answers, if there are any definitive answers at all.

So, pray for Venezuela. Pray for our leaders. As a Cuban-American, I’m also praying for the Cuban church and people because this has a direct impact on them.

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash