The Unification of Church Worship and State

The following article appeared both in the Waco Tribune and the Oklahoma Observer.

Old Testament King Saul imposed himself upon the office of the priesthood in violation of his calling to be a secular king. His attempt to blend the offices and override distinctly different administrations brought about the judgment of God. Many modern believers have failed to heed the lesson Saul learned the hard way.
In days gone by, the late W. A. Criswell, pastor of First Baptist Dallas used to go outside on the church steps to call a press conference announcing whom he was backing for President. He once mailed out a newsletter to members with a picture of former President Bush on the cover. It was reported Criswell would never endorse from behind the pulpit. Times are changing and what once was taboo is now becoming standard procedure. One Ohio church held a banquet in honor of a politician who seldom attended any church.
The merger of church and secular politics is so common now that one church in Austin took up an offering for candidates much to the shock of its treasurer.
Our church received an endorsement of a local candidate for Congress on the letterhead of a Baptist church signed by the pastor. The pastor then went further in bringing the candidate down in front of his congregation and laid hands on him in a type of ordination service for his candidacy.
We Baptists have a tradition called the alter call. Usually at the end of the service, it is the time when saints are given a chance to repent or unbelievers are coaxed to come join the faith. Rick Scarborough, a Texas Religious Right leader, leads church worship services offering an invitation to register in a political party during the alter call. Scarborough admonishes pastors to stand behind pulpits and proclaim whom they are voting for. (Legal experts claim this is not allowed.) This is a radical departure from Baptist protocol, but it is becoming more common. The Baptist church in North Carolina that kicked out church Democrats is a case in point. The pastor used the pulpit to denounce anyone who did not vote Republican. Democrats were told to repent and then those who refused to see the error of their ways were asked to get out.
Fundamentalist Baptists in Texas have jumped onto the political bandwagon. The Texas Restoration Project is a case in point. It is an attempt to enlist churches in the political process, (i.e. the GOP). The Baptist Fundamentalist leader is a player in this Restoration movement. Known as Southern Baptists of Texas, the group's magazine endorses candidates in a backhanded way. It advocates a bill before Congress to allow churches to directly participate in partisan politics. Not only would the bill before the House allow pastors to endorse candidates in church, it would also allow church budgets to be used in political campaigns! The Restoration Project encouraged churches to register Republican voters during the service and take up the forms before the congregation was adjourned.
When Southern Baptist leader Richard Land drove his Vote Values Bus around the nation it was an under-the-table way to accomplish similar results. Land is now trying to be a key kingmaker in the drive to select a GOP presidential contender. This is another radical departure from Baptist dogma.
From Rick Warren on the west coast to Ronnie Floyd in Arkansas to the late James Kennedy in Florida, pastors have gone on the media airways in the name of the gospel and advised listeners who to vote for. There is a blending of the sacred hour with secular politics like never before.