What is the Rationale for the Church Taking a Political and Social Stance it Disagreed With

The Church began in Palestine with a small number of Jews and Jewish proselytes, about
120 in number according to Acts 1:15, following the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The early
Church was built on the foundations of the gospel and the teachings of Jesus Christ as it is
written in Ephesians 2:20. In the 100AD, the Church gradually extended from Palestine
over Syria, Asia Minor, Greece and Italy. The most prominent of these centres were
Jerusalem, Antioch and Rome, which respectively were the mother churches of Jewish,
Gentile and Catholic Christianity. The Catholic Church grew over the years to become the
largest church denomination in the world, though it does not see itself as a denomination,
but as the original pre-denominational church. In the 16 th century, the Protestant
denomination broke out from the Catholic Church. It was headed by Martin Luther and
other early Protestant Reformers in the 16 th century Europe. The Protestant denomination
started as a movement that criticized the Catholic Church for its beliefs and doctrines that
had no foundations in the gospel and teachings of Jesus Christ. Just as the Protestant
denomination broke out from the Catholic Church, countless other denominations have
also sprung forth in the body of Christ from the 16 th century till now.
Some Christian denominations in the body of Christ came to be as a result of persons or
group of persons that disagreed completely with the stance of the early church in matters
such as justification, faith, the trinity, grace, and etcetera. Churches today have openly and
disagreed with the beliefs and the stances of the early church that are in accordance with
the Bible. For instance, the Catholic Church disagrees with “sola scriptura,” the doctrine
that the Bible alone should be the highest authority in matters of faith and morals. The
Catholic Church Catechism clearly states that “the church does not derive her certainty
about all revealed truth from the holy scriptures alone. Both scriptures and traditions must
be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments or devotion.” However, it is written in the
book of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 4 that the body of Christ should hold unto the
traditions that have been taught , whether by word or by the epistles of the apostles.
Therefore brethren standfast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by

word, or our epistle.”(2 Thessalonians 2:15). Apostle Paul, went further to accentuate this
point in the third chapter of 2 Thessalonians; “Now we command you brethren, in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh
disorderly, NOT AFTER THE TRADITION WHICH HE RECEIVED FROM US.” (2 Thessalonians
2:2, KJV).
In like manner that the church today has disagreed with some doctrines, beliefs and
teachings of the early church, so has it taken social and political stance that it disagreed
with. The society today is faced with a lot of social issues. Issues like abortion,
alcohol/drug abuse, divorce, co-habiting and theft are the order of the day. The most
prominent and most disturbing of these social issues the world is faced with today is
homosexuality and same-sex marriage. Homosexuality and same-sex marriage is not just
the other of the day; it has also been legalized in most developed countries today. Italy is
the only nation in the whole of Western Europe that does not recognize same-sex civil
unions or gay marriage, in part because of the heavy influence of the Catholic Church on
the government and public opinion. While a few churches vehemently forbid
homosexuality and same-sex marriage, in accordance with biblical precepts, a good
number of churches bless same-sex marriage. The British Methodist church, Anglican
Church of Canada, Lutheran, Presbyterian and other denominations around the world
bless same-sex marriage.
The church of Christ right from the onset has always supported politics. In the old
testament of the Bible, God was directly involved with the politics of Israel at several
occasions. In fact, God chose the first king of Israel. Most governmental system in the world
today operates a democratic system while the remaining few, such as the Vatican City,
operates a monarchy system of government. Both systems of government align with
Biblical beliefs. Monarchy was the system of government in the bible days. Democracy was
practised in the book of Acts chapter 16, where the apostles wanted to choose a
replacement for Judas between Mathias and Joseph Justus. The bible says they cast their
lots and their lot fell on Mathias. It therefore suffices to say that democracy as a political
system of government is biblical. The major issue with politics today that is in disharmony
with scriptural believes are; corrupt practices and the enactment of ungodly laws. Sadly,
the church has moved to support some of these political anomalies despite the fact that

they are contrary to scriptural precinct. It’s a cliché that there is a rationale behind every
action or inaction. The church taking stances it completely disagrees with is not an
exception to this cliché.
The church today has taken social as well as political stances it disagreed with as a result
of greed and lustful desires. The quest for money has lead people to the brink if madness.
The same poison of the love for money and lustful desires destroying the secular world is
the same poison polluting the body of Christ today. “For the love of money is the root of all
evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced
themselves with many pangs.” (Tim 6:10, ESV). A good number of Christians, which make
up the church, have wandered away from the faith because of their excessive cravings for
money. The actions and reactions of the church are largely influenced by the desires for
riches nowadays. The church sees its members in public offices engaging in the mindless
embezzlement of public funds along with other corrupt practices. Instead of the church,
especially the ministers, to rebuke such members of their indulgence in corrupt practices,
on the contrary, such members are celebrated in the church. We offer them seats in the
front row of the church; welcome them to pay their tithes and offerings, table requests for
church projects and even go to the point of telling such members to ride on as God has got
their backs. Many rich and influential members of the church indulge in all sorts of
immorality and social vices. By the reason of the fact that these church members are have a
fat account, the church either shuts its eyes to these acts of moral decadence or rather,
shift its stance on such immoral acts and social vices.
Jesus Christ himself warned about the deceitfulness of riches when he was on the earth in
the book of Mathew 13:22. The love of money has made clergies in the church primarily
centred on prosperity. Jesus called us to a life of contentment, not to dig for King Solomon’s
mines. Preaching or desiring prosperity is in not wrong at all. Jesus Christ also taught
about prosperity when he was on the earth. Jesus taught giving is a way into prosperity
(Luke 6:38). It therefore won’t be wrong if the disciples and followers of Christ Jesus
preach about prosperity. But when prosperity becomes the core of the gospel, as a result
or greed whatsoever, then there is a problem. The church has twisted scriptures just
because of greed and lustful desires. The eyes of the church have gradually been turned
away from the truth of God’s word and now they are focusing more on filthy lucre.

Anything that pleasures the flesh in excess will eventually turn out to poison the human
soul. Deviating from biblical precept is an example of such poison.
Misinterpretation of scriptures is an interesting rationale behind the church taking a social
and political stance it disagreed with. Personally, I find it baffling that some Christians
have their eyes open and yet, they cannot see. Others see beyond what is written.
Scriptures like “…the kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violence taketh it by force”
(Matthew 11:12 KJV) have been used as rationale to get involved corrupt practices as well
as some social vices. The Catholic Church, the largest Christian denomination in the world,
was partly founded on misinterpreted scriptures. The Catholic Church holds the view that
Jesus made Peter the foundation of the church, using Matthew 16:18 as proof. “And I say
also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail.”(Matthew16:18 KJV). This is why the Catholic Church teaches that its
bishops are the successors of Christ’s apostle, and that the pope (Bishop of Rome) is the
successor of Saint Peter. But from the context, reading from verse 15, Jesus was referring
to the revelation of Him as Christ and not Peter. I wander how reasonable it is to say that
Jesus was talking about building his church on a mortal man.
Homosexuality and same-sex marriage have enjoyed wide acceptance in western churches
these days as a result of misinterpreted scriptures. There are many people today that do
not recognize the Bible as any kind of moral authority, especially on matters of
homosexuality. It should not also come as a surprise that atheist and sceptics hold this
position. For example, late Christopher Hitchens once remarked, “what do I care what some
Bronze Age text say about homosexuality?” As William Craig, a well-known apologist has
observed, “one of the best ways to defend the legitimacy of homosexual lifestyle is to become
an atheist.” There are however a number of practising homosexuals and activists who are
not atheists. They argue that the Bible legitimizes general homosexual behaviour. Their
core argument is that the Bible has been misunderstood and misinterpreted where
homosexual is concerned, whereas, they are the ones that have misinterpreted the
scriptures.
There are six primary passages of the scriptures that references homosexuality; Genesis
19:4-9, Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, Romans 1:24-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and 1 Timothy 1:9-

1. Of these, more debate occurs over the Romans passage than any other with only the

Genesis account of Sodom and Gomorrah coming close regarding heated discussions. Pro-
homosexual advocates in the church say that Paul was only denouncing certain types of
homosexual activity. Their three most common assertions from Romans 1:24-27 are; Paul
was condemning homosexual acts that occur in conjunction with idol worship; Paul was
condemning “unnatural” homosexuality; Paul was condemning homosexual acts in
children. Despite the clarity of these scriptures, Christians in the body of Christ have
espoused the view that Christianity does not condemn homosexuality. The same thing
applies to masturbation, divorce and other social issues. Misconstrued scriptures can be
quite lethal as it could be an anchor for the church to firmly stand its grounds with all
effrontery in political and social matters that are rather unscriptural.
The USA’s national football league (NFL) legend, Mike Dikta, gave a news conference after
being fired as the coach of Chicago Bears. He decided to quote the scriptures, and so he
said; “this too shall come to pass.” Ditka fumbled his bible citation. The phrase “this also
shall come to pass” does not appear in the bible. Ditka quoted a phantom scripture!
Phantom scriptures are statements that sound biblical; however, they are not in the bible.
The following are examples of phantom scriptures; heaven help those who help
themselves; cleanliness is next to Godliness; spare the road and spoil the child; God works
in mysterious ways. As scriptural as these statements may sound, they are not written in
the bible. A common phantom scripture that has been for a very long time is the story of
the three wise men that visited Jesus and his earthly parents. On no account did the bible
mention that the wise men were three in number.
As a matter of fact, a few stances the church has taken in politics and sociality are based on
phantom scriptures. This, in most cases, is as a result of the ignorance in the church today.
Little wonder why in the book of Hosea chapter 4 and verse 5, God said; “my people are
destroyed for the lack of knowledge…” (Hosea 4:5, KJV). Christians fail to check the veracity
of some scriptural statements that ministers in the body of Christ or other influential
people in the faith say. When we here some of these phantom scriptures in church, with
the speed of light, we pick up our pens and write them in our note pads. We fail to check
the veracity of these seemingly scriptural statements. The book of acts records that one of
the reasons the Jewish church in Berea was nobler than the Jewish Church in Thessalonica
was because they searched the scriptures daily to know if what Paul and Silas taught were

true. “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea. Who
coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in
Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the
scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:10-11). That is not the case today.
Churches have moved to support things like examination malpractice, corrupt practices in
politics, and all sorts because “heaven help those who help themselves.” A Christian
brother walking through an alley sees a bag containing a huge sum of money in a brief
case. He carts away with the bag. He goes to church the following Sunday and testifies to
the goodness of God, narrates the story, and then says “brethren, God works in mysterious
ways! Halleluiah!” The whole congregation including the clergies, in some cases, rise up to
give glory to God for his mysterious blessing, whereas, the owner of the money is probably
at the verge of suicide. Christians get into bribery and corruption in politics today. And in
most cases, they have the support of the church. If you ask some Christians their rationale
behind such illegal acts, they would say; “heaven helps those who help themselves.”
Though this rationale may seem incredible and silly, it is the stark truth that churches have
changed grounds in social and political matters because of phantom scriptures. A number
of Christians do not know that these seemingly scriptural statements are not scriptural.
Paul foresaw things like phantom scriptures coming to play in the church. He warned the
church in Thessalonica about it. “Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.” (1
Thessalonians 5:21).