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September 20,
2004
My fellow
pastors, (spiritual) leaders in our community, WE NEED YOUR HELP!!
I am appealing to you to help us and encourage us in our
efforts to keep a reservation casino from devastating our region.
This is a huge challenge and we need your help and the help of your
congregations (even though we know the story of Gideon!)
May I ask you a
few questions?
Are you thinking that the local
citizens group, Citizens for our Community (C4C) is doing well and
doesn’t need any more help from the pastors and churches? (We need
you!)
Are you
indifferent to the Ho-Chunk reservation casino being proposed for
our area?
Do you believe that this is not
something you or your congregation should be involved in since it is
not a “spiritual issue?”
Do you believe involving yourself in
this issue will tarnish the name of Jesus? Do you believe that
Jesus is more pleased with our non-involvement?
Are you afraid to involve yourself or
your congregation is this issue for fear of losing your tax-exempt
status by getting involved politically?
Click Here for further info on
tax-exempt lobbying info.
Do you believe you have no say in this
issue, or you can have no influence because you live in Indiana?
I am a pastor in
Lansing who has decided to get involved with Citizens for our
Community (C4C) to stop a casino from coming to Lynwood. Let me say
two things to you:
If you are
concerned about compromising your tax-exempt status, please read the
enclosed material prepared by a tax-exempt specialist, that gives
clear guidelines regarding political involvement and lobbying for
tax-exempt organizations, specifically churches. As a review of
this information will reveal, our political involvement as pastors
or churches along these guidelines does not jeopardize our
tax-exempt status. If you are not involving yourself or educating
and urging your congregation members to become involved because of
the other reasons mentioned, please reconsider. Let me give you an
analogy, tell a couple of sentences from my story, and direct your
attention to the Bible. (Or just skip these sections and go
directly to my request to you!)
An analogy
Two mountain
towns whose business and social life were largely intertwined were
joined by a treacherous road. Hardly a day went by that someone
wasn’t injured or killed as they made their way between the towns.
Townspeople in the respective towns got together to determine how
best to deal with the problem. People in one town decided to build
the best medical facility they could, recruit the best doctors,
obtain the best EMT’s and emergency equipment. People in the other
town decided to improve the road so that accidents wouldn’t happen
in the first place.
When we do the
research, we know that a casino will do an incredible amount of
damage to marriages, families, communities and an economy. Will we
really argue that helping the victims of gambling (the hospital and
EMT’s) is the church’s spiritual business but preventing a casino
from coming here (building safer roads) is not? Are ministries like
food pantries, women’s and children’s shelters and counseling more
“spiritual” than political action that prevents the carnage from
occurring in the first place? Will Jesus be displeased with us (no
matter what anyone else may think) if we and our people blessed our
community by getting involved politically and stopping damage before
it is permitted to happen?
My story
In my last
ministry setting in Canada, one of my elders said to me, “Our
neighbors all see that we are an active congregation. Cars are
always collected around our church building. What can we do so that
the community sees and feels that we really care about them too?
Isn’t that what Jesus would want us to do?”
Several weeks
later, our Ministerial became involved in organizing a plebiscite
that gave people in our community a say about the electronic
gambling machines that had been quietly invited into our community
and which had been silently wreaking pain and havoc. Our efforts
began a movement across Canada. We and other communities were
successful in have the machines removed from our towns. Communities
were given one example of how the church cared about all people, not
just their own members, cared enough about principles, and cared
enough about what Jesus cared about to become involved in the
community in a measurable, tangible way. (We also ran a Food Bank
and were involved with the police, various civic groups and
institutions in our community.)
What
does the Bible say?
In the old
testament, when God’s people had political control, God repeatedly
called for justice in the courts, fair treatment of servants, slaves
and strangers, fair interest rates, caring for the poor, the widow,
the orphan, the powerless, etc. Kings were reminded that they ruled
under God. When Jesus walked among us, he healed people physically
and relationally, not always spiritually, even though that was his
ultimate goal. He told the parable of the Good Samaritan. The New
Testament was written in a context where Christians were a powerless
minority. Still, rulers were reminded that they ruled under God,
and we know that since New Testament times, God hasn’t dismissed his
concern about justice and fairness in the public and political
realm, or concerns about the poor. In a democracy, citizens share
these responsibilities collectively.
My
request to you – Fellow leaders under
Christ, I am appealing to you to do six things:
1.
Bring this issue before God and your
congregation in weekly congregational prayer.
2.
Send us a resolution from your
church Board/Council/Consistory.
Click
here for sample
3.
Educate
yourself on this issue and educate your people.
4.
Encourage
your members to become involved politically – make phone
calls to politicians, write letters, attend a town meeting, help
C4C, ... -- all for Jesus’ sake!
(Indiana residents, businesses and churches click here for further
details)
5.
Provide us with (a) contact person(s)
from your church who is able and willing to attend informational
meetings and bring information back to your congregation.
Click here to send
us an email with a contact persons name.
6.
Encourage
your members to attend our next rally by placing an
announcement in your church bulletin each week.
The show of support for these functions speaks directly to the press
and legislative leaders about the level of support in the community
against the casino.
A co-worker with you in the Kingdom of
Christ,
Philip Stel,
Pastor,
First Christian
Reformed Church of Lansing, IL
"Land-based
Indian Reservation and Casino--What's the Fuss About?"
This article may reprinted in your church newsletter.
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