Rash of Baptist Preachers Making Political Endorsements (7-22-04)

Some unsightly eruptions have appeared on Baptist preachers in the last few weeks. Last week a splotch appeared on Jerry Falwell after he endorsed President Bush in an e-mail to his followers and urged them to send money to a political action committee that endorses Republican candidates. Yesterday a blemish appeared on Ronnie Floyd, a leader of SBC Fundamentalists in Arkansas, who endorsed President Bush in a July 4th sermon.

Both of these Baptist preachers, and who knows how many others, seem to have responded rather rashly to unprecedented efforts from President Bush's re-election campaign to enlist churches to drum up support for his campaign efforts.

It is sad to see Baptist preachers getting sidetracked into politics. Baptist preachers used to stay focused on the kind of changes that came about by "the foolishness of preaching," but that was before the definition of "revival" changed. When I was growing up, the word "revival" referred to the power of the Holy Spirit to transform hearts and change lives. Change began within an individual and spread from one person to another. Then, revival was a spiritual movement. Modern Fundamentalists like Falwell redefined the word "revival" to mean the power of a social movement to change the culture.

For modern Fundamentalists, "revivals" begin with an election and spread from one institution to another. As Falwell said on the PBS Series "With God on Our Side", effecting change by individual spiritual transformation is “a correct premise. In reality, it doesn’t work out that way.” For modern Fundamentalists, a real revival is a political movement.
With this kind of theology, why does Falwell call himself "evangelical?"