Despite various attempts to clarify the lines regarding acceptable political involvement by the Church, which Church Central wrote about recently, the waters appear to remain muddy.

A recent story in the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch chronicled an attempt by three former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) executives to throw a monkey wrench into the Alliance Defense Fund's (ADF) "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" yesterday. The ADF encouraged pastors preach sermons Sept. 28 against candidates whose stands allegedly conflict with scripture.

Now working for a Washington, D.C., law firm, the attorneys said they were filing their complaint against the Phoenix-based legal advocacy group as a matter of principle.

"We believe the project of encouraging, of counseling, of assisting large numbers of churches to violate the tax law is a threat to the integrity of the tax system," said Marcus Owens, former director of the IRS exempt organizations division.

A group of 40 central Ohio religious leaders also filed a complaint asking the IRS investigate ADF to see if its political activities had compromised its tax-exempt status.

Light participation in event

Despite these attempts, ADF's observance went ahead as scheduled. However, an Associated Press report this morning said that only 33 churches in 22 states participated.

The AP reported that one pastor who lined up with the ADF effort told his congregation, "I would cast a vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. But friends, it's your choice to make, it's not my choice."

That is the kind of statement that drew fire from such opponents as Rev. Eric Williams, a minister with the United Church of Christ in Columbus, Ohio.

"The role of the church—of congregation, synagogue, temple and mosque—and of its religious leaders is to stand apart from government," Williams said. That is a point well taken.

Williams and the ADF's legal counsel swapped opinions last week on the Dispatch's editorial pages, with the minister accused the organization of promoting partisan politics.

In his column, Williams said churches must avoid crossing the church-state line. While they can champion important causes, they must not endorse particular candidates, raise money for their campaigns or offer favors not extended to others, he wrote.

In a rebuttal, the ADF's Erik Stanley argued those who opposed the initiative either misunderstood it or preferred the climate of fear under which pastors operate.

"The Pulpit Initiative is not about serving any candidate or political party; it is about restoring the right of pastors to speak freely from the pulpit without fear of punishment by the government…" Stanley wrote.

Servants rather than rulers

Earlier, Stanley stated ADF's goal was to get the IRS prohibition against political endorsements declared unconstitutional by attracting investigations of each participating church. Then, congregations would sue the IRS while being represented by ADF.

That is likely one reason not many pastors endorsed the campaign: the time, energy and distraction a protracted lawsuit could mean to churches involved.

Aside from that, though, there are sound reasons to avoid getting too entangled with the political process. Recently I interviewed an evangelist who said, "Unfortunately, the Church has been so preoccupied with who's in the White House the past 20 to 30 years they've forgotten God's house."

There are acceptable levels of involvement in the political process, spelled out in Church Central's earlier story and even on ADF's web site. They are sound guidelines that allow the Church to be involved to a certain point, but without trying to dictate individuals' decisions or become another power broker.

When the Church attempts to go too far in the political arena, it is often seen as just another special interest group. Better that Christians be known for their servanthood than political power.