The IRS recently announced it would no longer enforce the Johnson Amendment. The amendment, passed in 1954, bears the name of then-Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson.
The Johnson Amendment prohibited churches, religious organizations and other nonprofits from participating in electoral politics — specifically, from endorsing a candidate for office. If an included organization did endorse a specific candidate, it could lose its tax-exempt status.
Critics suggest creation of the amendment comprised an act of political revenge on Johnson’s part, because two nonprofit organizations with religious orientations opposed him politically. He was known to hold a grudge.
The IRS applied this regulation unevenly through the years. Candidates from both parties attended and spoke in churches.
Clay Smith
I heard preachers tiptoe around the Johnson Amendment by saying: “Now the government won’t let me say who I will vote for. But it says nothing about me telling you who I won’t vote for. So, I am not going to vote for Sen. So-and-So, because God has told me he is a bad man. You draw your own conclusions.” That may be following the letter of the law, but it stomps on the spirit of the law.
Pastors and religious leaders on the left and on the right hailed the latest IRS decision. Many have long seen the Johnson Amendment as a limitation on free speech. I expect in the next election cycle, we will hear of many preachers and pastors endorsing all kinds of candidates.
I will not be one of them. The most obvious reason: By the next election cycle, I’ll be retired.
Even if I were not retired, as a pastor, I would not endorse any candidate for any office.
Even if I were not retired, as a pastor, I would not endorse any candidate for any office. Here’s why:
First, history teaches us whenever the church seeks political power, spiritual power diminishes. Jesus never told his followers to seek political power. He never sought it himself. And he warned his disciples that, more often than not, rulers would want to arrest his followers instead of accommodating them.
Second, Jesus gave his church a mission: “Go, make disciples, teaching them everything I have commanded you, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Nothing in that mission is about politics that I can see. A disciple is someone who is like his master.
The church’s mission is to teach people to be like Jesus. Evidence suggests we are not doing this very well. If we are not doing our primary mission well, why take on another mission?
Third, Jesus never asked his church to make Republicans or Democrats or, for that matter, conservatives or liberals. If his church is to make disciples, we must strive to be open to all people, no matter what their political affiliation.
If I endorse a candidate from a certain party, I will send a message to people in the other party they are not welcome in our church. That is so contrary to Jesus!
I serve in a swing county, one of the few in the United States. If I endorse a candidate from a certain party, I will send a message to people in the other party that they are not welcome in our church. That is so contrary to Jesus! Shouldn’t church be the one place that transcends politics, where we place our Lord above our politics?
Fourth, as an observer of culture, a student of history and a reader of Scripture, I have noticed every candidate is a sinner. The sins of some candidates are obvious. Other candidates have more hidden sins. There is no candidate that completely reflects the will of God, because every candidate is flawed.
When I have made this point through the years, people come to me after I have spoken and argued with me. Their argument usually goes something like this: “Yes, he — or she — is flawed, but not as flawed as the other guy.” The problem with this argument is we are arguing over levels of toxicity. Whether you mix a little poison or a lot of poison into chocolate chip cookies, the poison makes them all dangerous. I do not want to lead the congregation under my care to put their trust in a flawed person — not a politician or a preacher.
Fifth, preachers need to preserve their prophetic callings. I’m not speaking about a chart about the end times; rather, the calling to speak truth to power.
I’m not advocating that preachers make every sermon about the hot issues of the day. Too much of that kind of preaching isn’t good for the preacher or the congregation. But a pastor needs to be able to say about the actions of any politician, “This does not conform to the teachings of Scripture.”
Finally, Psalm 146:3 says, “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.” If you take the Bible seriously — which I do — this verse tells me not to trust a human being who cannot save me. Jesus is the only one who can, so I will put my trust in him.
Like the old hymn says, “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”
Clay Smith has served as lead pastor of Alice Drive Baptist Church in Sumter, S.C., for 31 years. He also is a rancher, writer and consultant to churches and pastors.
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