Rice: Southern Baptist pastors should be involved in the political process

CLEARWATER, Fla. (BP)—Southern Baptist pastors should “absolutely” be a part of the political process in order to press on issues that speak to theological and moral clarity, Southern Baptist Convention President Willy Rice told Fox News in a weekend interview.

“Pastors need to step up,” he said. “Throughout American history, pastors have had a strong voice in key moments in American political history, even in the revolutionary times, maybe especially in the founding of our country.”

Rice put forward that, in recent years, voices outside as well as inside the evangelical tent have encouraged a passive approach to controversial political issues, even as those “on the theological and political left” showed a desire to get involved.

“Statistics show that people on the political and theological left are actually more politically engaged than those on the right,” he said. “For a period of time, you had almost a vacuum that kind of developed, a silence that was there with a lack of Christian leaders leaning in. Now, some of that has changed in recent years as people have found their voices again and engaged.”

Evangelical voices important, says Rice

Those evangelical voices are important to speak into issues “that strike at the very center of what we believe to be true and what we believe people need to know in order to flourish personally and as a culture,” he said.

As a Southern Baptist pastor of more than 40 years, Rice pointed out he is part of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination of more than 12 million members and 46,000 churches. Its influence is felt in American life and surrounding topics of common debate such as immigration, abortion, and the redefinition of marriage and gender.

“The immigration issue does challenge us because there are conflicting values. There is a value of compassion, a value of wanting to care for the least of these people who are poor and oppressed, and genuinely wanting to help,” he said. “… But there is also the importance of the rule of law and the protection of people who are in this country.

“… No one would say that because you love people or care for people, you should leave the doors of your house unlocked or you should open up the jail cells in your own community. That’s not in any way illogical. … A person can love people and care for people and want humans of all kinds and all races to flourish, and also believe that a nation has not just the right but the responsibility to have laws to protect its own citizens and to regulate who comes into a country for all kinds of reasons,” he continued.

The topic of abortion, he added, is critical because it speaks to what it means to be “made in the image of God.”

“It’s as relevant and as critical and as important as it has ever been,” said Rice, who has served as pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Fla., for 26 years.

“Pastors need to continue to articulate not just how to vote on these issues, but why we need to vote those ways,” he said.