I recently found myself in a lengthy conversation with a former parishioner, a man who left Old South in response to my “politics.” In the conversation, which was actually much less a conversation and much more of a monologue, this gentleman— let’s call him Bill— not only underscored the reasons for his departure, but he also added that he’s aware of at least several other people who have expressed to him (but not me) that I go too far too often in expressing “political views.” Bill went on to talk about his current church home, a Baptist church, that emphasizes personal salvation and avoids political issues, because avoiding politics is what “a church should be about.”

The sermon that initially caused Bill to leave Old South, quite a few years ago, was delivered shortly before the people of Maine were set to vote on gay marriage. In my message, I explicitly told the congregation that I was not going to tell them how to vote on the issue, but to highlight how significant it was that, regardless of how one voted, we Christians endeavor to follow what Jesus called the Greatest Commandment: to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves. We might disagree on legal rights, but we ought not disagree, as people of faith, on the issue of treating others with dignity and love. I really didn’t think it was all that controversial of a message. And yet, Bill wasn’t having it and stormed away.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the conversations I’ve had with Bill over the years (I run into him from time to time), but especially the most recent one that happened to take place on Easter, along with what is currently going on between the President (and the Vice President) and the Pope. As Pope Leo has stated, “I have no fear of either the Trump Administration or speaking out loudly the message of the Gospel. That’s what I believe I am called to do, what the church is called to do.” The Church is indeed called to speak up for the Gospel, in a variety of ways. That’s our job— all people of faith. There may very well be disagreements in our perceptions of the Gospel. There will be times when political leaders find it necessary to follow a path that is not at all in line with any perceptions of the Gospel. The United States, after all, is not a Christian country. Still, it is appropriate for the Gospel to be raised, that in the midst of this complicated and difficult world, that voices speak the challenging words and lessons of Jesus in public spaces and public places, that people of faith speak up for those whose voices are muted in times of conflict.

The Christian faith ought not be left solely to private devotion, nor to personal salvation. To do so is to miss a critical dimension of faith, as if one’s inner life and one’s public life can be neatly divided into separate entities, as if one has nothing to do with the other. According to the biblical witness, Jesus modeled the private and the public aspects of faith. Even as he spent time in private prayer and reflection, Jesus spoke and acted in a public way— teaching, healing, etc. While Christians may disagree and may come to different conclusions regarding even Jesus’s most familiar teachings, and politicians may find that they must act in ways that are contrary to the Gospel, Christians— especially Christian leaders— must be allowed to speak and to speak up for the Gospel. That is our role— on the big, global stage as well as on the small, community level. Ours is the voice that lifts up the marginalized, the vulnerable, the oppressed. That some find this uncomfortable, only proves the point of the significance of speaking up for the Gospel.

While it is (sadly) not universally honored, many clergypeople— perhaps most— take very seriously the role that we have in guiding those in our care, encouraging all along the journey of faith. Our role sometimes involves offering comfort. Other times, our role is to provide challenge. It is with a great deal of humility that clergy, generally speaking, take on the role to speak up for and to guide people to live in the way of the Gospel, the good news— privately and publicly.

In a country in which so many people, including those who are very much in the political realm and in positions of power, like to display their Christian faith on their person, there is a remarkable lack of understanding of the role of clergy, that clergy speak for the Gospel first before any government. This lack of understanding didn’t just show up this past week. It’s been around for a long time. The role of Christian clergy is to speak up for the Gospel. If that makes the powerful squirm (or even the decidedly not so powerful), they ought to take less time bashing the one who caused the disturbance and more time in reflection, considering carefully and thoughtfully the whys of the anger and frustration, the moral dimensions of life and living. Otherwise, the Christian faith becomes devoid of its value, drained of its purpose to encourage, to shape, to animate, to transform from the way of death to the way of life.