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What can pastors—who are not experts in either politics of policy—appropriately say from the pulpit about the European financial crisis?

Greg Forster—whose book The Contested Public Square: The Crisis of Christianity and Politics (IVP, 2008) may be the single best volume for an introductory survey of Christianity and politics in the past 2000 years—gives a very helpful answer.

Here’s a snippet:

No doubt America’s church leaders are as concerned as anyone else about the grave news emerging from the European financial crisis. It threatens a disruption so serious that every economy in the world would be damaged. But pastors may naturally ask what, if anything, it all has to do with their work as the spiritual leaders of God’s people.

I don’t think pastors are called to become experts in international finance. However, I do think the European crisis intersects with the daily work of stewarding the mysteries of God and equipping the saints for discipleship in the American context.

One of the most important callings of the pastor is to equip the saints in discerning and carrying out the various callings God has for them in every aspect of their lives, including as members of their civil communities. And thinking Christianly about our daily calling to be good citizens in our homes, workplaces, and communities actually provides unique insight into the financial crisis and what we, as ordinary citizens, can do to make a productive contribution to the good of our neighbors and nation.

Read the whole thing.

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