On Bishop Mariann Budde and Christian Advocacy
Over the last few years, there has been a concerning pattern happening in churches across the nation: Pastors have reported being accused of using “liberal talking points” in their sermons. This isn’t happening in a certain location in the United States nor specific denomination. The common factor in the accusations is what the accusers believe the “liberal talking points” are: The recorded words of Jesus. When this is pointed out to the accusers, their reported response has been “Yes, but that doesn’t work anymore. That’s weak.”
This concerning pattern became center stage this week after Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde addressed President Trump directly from the pulpit during a national prayer service in Washington D.C:
“Let me make one final please Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a Loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children, in Democratic and Republican and Independent families, some who fear for their lives… “I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities — these children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those that are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger because we were all once strangers in this land. ”
The President’s responded to a reporter, “I didn’t think it was a good service”. Later in the evening the President would post about the bishop, calling her a “Radical Left hard line Trump Hater” and “brought her church into the world of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart.” He concluded his post demanding a public apology. (foxnews.com)
Since then, the media has been covering the very public backlash Bishop Budde has received from the President’s supporters. Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk called her message a “lecture”; and that she “disgraced herself” instead of unifying “America around a Christian message”. On his show, Ben Shapiro called her a “Resistance Pastor who gets up and is going to make herself famous by ripping into Donald Trump and JD Vance the day after the inauguration, and she is going to do so by spewing absolute nonsense wokeness…” (foxnews.com)
The issue that should concern all Christ Followers is that Bishop Budde’s plea was not “nonsense”, but very much consistent teaching of Jesus in the New Testament and is repeated throughout. No, Jesus does not address LGBTQ+ children directly but he does direct all children explicitly, as well as repeatedly addressing those who are refugees, migrants, orphaned, widowed, or considered vulnerable by society’s standards. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus referred to these different populations as “the least of these”. Mercy and compassion for all God’s people was always a cornerstone to Christ’s teachings, and usually was the one that got him in trouble.
It should concern all Christ followers that a Bishop of a congregation, while giving a sermon in the church they oversee, advocating for others and asking those in attendance to adhere to Christ’s teachings is called names, demeaned, and accused of disgracing herself or weaponizing her position. The irrefutable truth is Bishop Budde was engaging in her pastoral vocation, an act that all pastors are engaging in every Sunday across the nation. She did not “spew wokeness” but rooted her message to the President in Christian Scriptures just as she is called to do.
It should concern all Christ Followers that there are those in power or have platforms, who continually cite the Bible and Christianity in their own messaging but do not recognize it when it is quoted back to them. Later in his show, Shapiro states accusingly that “(Budde) Suggests that if President Trump wishes to emulate the values of Jesus then he must abandon his entire political agenda.”
If emulating the values, teachings, and commandments of Jesus means one must to abandon their entire political agenda than their entire political agenda was garbage.
The sad likelihood is if Bishop Budde had done what critics had wanted – praising the new administration and focusing her message on force and strength, there would have been no repercussions. However, doing so would have required Bishop Budde to abandon her vocation, her Christian values, and the teaching of the Savior.
Just Like Esther pleads with the King for her people, Hannah pleads with God for a Son, Daniel pleads with God for the restoration of his land, Nehemiah pleads to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and Paul pleads with Philemon to accept Onesimus – Bishop Budde did what many in the good book have done before her. She did not politicized or weaponize her message.
She advocated.
May we all grow from the example set by Bishop Budde in the weeks and months ahead.
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For those who want to read the sermon that caused the firestorm, read on: ‘Contempt is a dangerous way to lead a country’: here is the sermon that enraged Donald Trump by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde
