Luke Holland for Senate ad: "My Prayer for America"

Luke Holland, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's personally anointed successor, is out with the following ad for his U.S. Senate campaign. Watch, and then read my comments afterwards.

I communicated with several different pastors from across the state (of the conservative Baptist stripe to which I belong) in the past 24 hours regarding this ad. One said that he was "not particularly impressed", questioning the tepid theology referenced by Holland. Another did not care for it, saying that it came across as "cheesy, forced, and not sincere." Another made the comment that "it will appeal to a lot of older ladies," and it was "careful and calculated" in passive ecumenism. Two other pastors I spoke with had negative opinions of the ad, feeling it made a mockery of prayer and was politically opportunistic.

I personally find the ad to be sacrilegious. It cheapens faith. It makes prayer a political performance. It reminded me of Matthew 6:5: "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."

Also, if your church shut down, it was weak, it was wrong, and it probably deserved to be shut down. Not every church submitted to unconstitutional orders to close. Not every church looked to obey man before obeying God (contrary to Acts 5:29 and Hebrews 10:23-25). Churches had a choice whether to be faithful to God and to Scripturally gathering with the saints, or to cower to tyranny.

America doesn't need more people to "know" and "be [God's] friend". Holland is trying to thread the needle with wishy-washy, ambiguous language that sounds religious but falls completely, nauseatingly flat. God doesn't "need" us; rather, we need God. Sinners need to repent and believe the Gospel.

Christians absolutely should be involved in politics and the public arena. We should vote, run for office, help good candidates get elected, speak out on the issues and impact culture... all of that. What I have issue with is when the faith once delivered to the saints is abused, cheapened, made performative for the camera, sullied, and transparently exploited for political gain. There's a line that must not be blurred. 

I'm increasingly uncomfortable and downright offended by the commandeering of Christianity, not for truly changing the culture by the spread of the Gospel (not mere moralism) and the salvation of sinners, but for scoring political points and the syncretism of church and political party or church and political campaign. The purity of the church is something to be jealously guarded, and not co-opted by opportunistic leeches.

Those are my thoughts on the ad. What do you think? Leave a comment.