Deserting their Flock?

Opinion: Think twice before voting for a “preacher” who doesn’t turn the other cheek, insults God’s people, puts an oversize ego on display and abandons his vocation.

Catholic clergy cannot hold public office, it’s considered undignified for a Rabbi to do so, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. explained to reporters and staff that he would not seek an elected position because he had, “…no other ambitions in life but to achieve excellence in the Christian ministry.”

The reason he refused multiple requests to run is found in the Bible. Ephesians 4:11-12 states, “Now these gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”

“Those called by God to serve him as pastors must devote themselves to that vocation,” Ben C. Duncan, visiting professor of New Testament at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, explains. “In fact, from the standpoint of the Bible, for pastors to focus their labors on political activism (seeking political office themselves, extensive campaigning for candidates, and so on) would be a denial of their vocation as pastors, which is to preach the Scriptures and shepherd the people of God.”

A good example of the dangers of diluting that calling with political ambition is found in James A. Leach’s recent public humiliation of a volunteer fireman concerned water pressure in the county has become life-threateningly low. Delivered from a preacher seeking his 9th term on the Hoke County Commission, it fueled anger and divisiveness, alienating some from the church. It’s certainly not Jesus-like compassion.

The Gospel Coalition cautioned the latest outburst of many and lack of respect isn’t an unexpected because, “Pastors aren’t called to be experts in economics, political theory, psychology, or sociology. They’re called to be experts in expositing and applying the Word to their congregations.”

Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson warns, “It’s hard to hold a political party accountable and hold office, while at the same time behaving as Amos, or Isaiah, or Jeremiah or in modern times, a Dr. King, who had to take unpopular stands such as opposing the Viet-Nam war which implicated the Democratic Party to which many Black Americans had gravitated, and keep an elected seat.”

“In reading about the apostle Paul’s ministry, for example, it is clear that the minutiae of the practice of politics was the last thing on his mind,” according to Duncan. “The simple reason for this is that Paul was a pastor, not a politician. It was not his job to get involved in the minute details of politics. His calling was to preach the gospel, to build up the churches, to pray for them, and to encourage them to remain faithful.”

“A pastor may think if he or she enters politics, it is an opportunity to fix the issues,” wrote Drexwell Seymour. “If a pastor is called to be a pastor, that pastor should take their calling very seriously. I think it is an honour to be called in the vocation of a pastor and that should not be taken for granted. Remember the word of God said the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. Going into politics will reduce the labourers even further.”

The commission, with Leach as chairman, decided to pull all legal advertising from The News-Journal after the newspaper was forced to sue to gain access to public documents. The order was issued hours later, pure financial revenge that highlights an unwillingness to “Turn the other cheek.”

The James A. Leach Aquatic and Recreation Center is named in his honor and is elaborately adorned that pay homage to commissioners in plaques and photographs. That’s hardly the definition of humble.

Add the hundreds of self-beatifying “Vote for Leach” signs about to litter yards in Hoke County, and I’m glad I won’t have to answer for that kind of ego on judgement day—much less dereliction of the duty the Lord assigned me.

Editor’s Note: James A. Leach and Tony Hunt, both currently members of the Hoke County Commission, claim to be preachers. Leach is on this year’s ballot and hoping to extend his reign to 36 years. Hunt comes up for reelection in 2026.

And don’t forget to get your “Fire Leach ‘24” T-shirts while they last.