To Move Forward, We Will Have To Choose A Road
Intro
This week, I’m just going to be me on this post. A pastors perspective, rather than an academic look.
I enjoyed Matthew R. Petrusek In Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture. Petrusek tackles a difficult subject that is tearing many countries apart, especially in America. Where I live and minister there are two completely different cultures. Machias road where my church is located is the dividing line between urban and rural living. It is also the dividing line between social economic classes of upper middle class and the wealthy community around the Lake that has become very liberal. On the east side of Machias road is primarily urban living with more conservative family values and republican. The dividing line is so significant and that on the west side of Machias road is considered city, the east side of Machias road considered county. In Washington State over 150,000 families have relocated out of the state. Over 50,000 youth have been pulled from public schools. People are angry on both sides of Machias Road.
Summary
In Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture, Matthew R. Petrusek offers solutions to ideological thinking and principles from a Catholic mindset. Petrusek shows how Catholic teaching, while respecting the genuine concerns of these worldviews, responds to their errors and deficiencies by providing a more rational and moral alternative. From this reading, I can break down the book into these four points.
- How the current secular trends destroy society
- The antidote: Catholic social teaching
- Analysis of secular ideologies and response to their errors
- Where there is hope and how to redirect our culture
Matthew R. Petrusek believes there is hope in “our hyper-politicized society is an opportunity for evangelization rather than an obstacle.” He communicates the brokenness of our political systems and believes there should not be separation of church and state. Through this very topic, our ministry, my life during Covid has suffered greatly. The Well Church is a community of diverse people. I have a small group of young adults (16-20) that are extremely different from their parents and views. We have immigrants who are trying to preserve the traditions and ways of the countries they migrated from. We have conservative older people that love me for staying true to country values. I have middle aged people that love me for being intellectual and to hear and explore different viewpoints. I have a group of young adults that feel safe sharing their ideologies and different social beliefs and convictions.
A Shepherd’s Heart
Through the years of being a head pastor, I have realized I am not an academic, but I am a good pastor and one heck of coach. I have seen this issue divide my family, church, community, and nation apart. In my young adult group, I have one of the most brilliant young minds I have ever met, yet he is so offended by politics he will leave conversations and possibly the church if I bring up politics. Things are worse in his family as they argue and live in seperate areas of a 5,000 square foot home. I have done family counseling from time to time, within a few minutes everyone is standing, yelling, pointing fingers, storming towards their rooms. There has become dividing lines in this home. From Matthew 22-28 a house divided cannot stand. Therefore, the love of self always brings division, the love of others always brings unity.
Conclusion
From the time of John Chapter 2 when Jesus turned water into wine. He eliminated the separation of heaven and earth, the natural vs. the supernatural. The water representing the natural, the wine representing the supernatural. The water and wine came together into the clay pot and you could no longer separate the water from the wine. Therefore as Petrusek leads to, you cannot separate church and state, it is all together. Perhaps this is the personal turmoil I have been living on Machias road at the Well Church. Perhaps I need to make a final decision between academia and pastoring so I can keep moving forward. The problem will always be with our hearts, not a political problem. Perhaps too many people are like me, standing on the road, unsure of the way to go forward and need a map to help them.
John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
[1] Matthew R. Petrusek In Evangelization and Ideology: How to Understand and Respond to the Political Culture. Park Ridge IL: Word on Fire Institute, 2023
About the Author
Greg McMullen
Pastor Greg resides in Lake Stevens WA and pastors a small rural church in the Machias area . The Well Church has a large food ministry in which many different cultures come each week to gather food and counsel. The Church has a small school that is bearing good fruit. Pastor Greg has a large family of 10 children and enjoys fishing and hiking.12 responses to “To Move Forward, We Will Have To Choose A Road”
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Greg, beautifully written. Thank you for sharing. I so enjoy seeing your Facebook posts and how, even through all you have endured, God shines in everything. You are both an academic and a pastor. We need people like you in both worlds – pastors who have a strong academic background and academics who are pastors. You bridge the gap between these two worlds, as I strive to do. And through all that you do runs the thread of love. May the Lord continue to bless you as both a pastor and an academic.
Becca,
I love your confidence in you who are and your passion to let your story be a beacon of light to others.
Revelation 3:7 is your verse from the Lord. Walk with confidence as you are a daughter of the King.
Thank you for vulnerably sharing your pastoral heart here Greg. Keep up the good work of loving and shepherding people on both sides for the political spectrum (or, in your case, the Machias road).
David,
You are shooting star about t leave your mark across the night skies. Thank you for enriching my, thank you for daring to be honest with me.
Greg,
I love your life of faith and encouragement. You are a wonderful example of a pastor’s heart. I love to hear you pray over others as the Lord leads you and witness you come alongside another in need. Keep pressing on, my friend. You have much of His love for others pouring through you.
Tonnette,
Thank you so much, I am so glad I got to get that bus ride with you in our last day at Oxford. Thank you for your friendship and encouragement. I have enjoyed your post and sharing about work and heart for the children and community you serve.
Greg,
Thank you for sharing about your work and the bright spots of support you have. I appreciate your journey these past few years. You have shared openly about struggles and successes. You remind me of the tension of leadership. Often, we have to go first into situations and bear the burden of being first. Others will follow our lead but it can be lonely and we can get beat up in the process. I feel like this group has been and will be a place to encourage each other to keep going and not give up the pursuit of Christ, no matter how that looks in our vocational expression. Thank you for your vulnerability.
Chad,
Bless you my brother. Do you remember that word or picture I shared with you about the hawk sitting on a fence looking over a prairie ready to take flight?
It’s about to happen, the Lord is going to bless you for your faithfulness to Him.
I do remember that! It was the first time we met.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what it meant at the time. It is speaking to me now. What made you think of this?
Chad,
The Holy Spirit reminded me of this. The Holy Spirit is often referred to as a wind or fresh wind. Wind brings momentum or propulsion forward. Often, you see Eagles or Hawks just gliding on the wind with little effort and moving forward.
God is opening up new doors and avenues in your future for your obedience to Him.
Thanks for the post and vulnerability. You are a good man and a true pastor. Shepherding a flock is no easy task, especially when politics, ideologies, and division are running rampant. Don’t conform my friend, keep being you. Stay true to the Word. These other books are fantastic and give us perspective but you know the one book that will give you peace. Stay in it. Holler if there is anything I could ever do for you. Even if you want a break from the madness, you’re welcome in Michigan anytime, my friend.
Michael,
Bless you, my friend. What a journey this has been through Covid and this program. Through it all, I have come to a good place. There is only so much we can do as leaders and to come to our knees and surrender and let God do the rest.
To have our church full again and start new ministries was worth all the vandalism, threats, and sleepless nights. God did great work inside of me during this time.
You are truly a man of God Michael. Thank you for being an inspiration to me and others. Bless you.