“Stay in your lane, Pastor,” said the man seated across the table from me at a local café. Our discussion up to that point had focused upon politics and current cultural issues. He obviously (and unsurprisingly) held to a pietistic understanding of the pastoral office. From his perspective, pastors should focus on preaching and teaching the Bible, but addressing political issues (especially from the pulpit) was out of bounds. While I don’t think I convinced my friend that day, I hope to show that it is not only appropriate but essential for pastors to speak boldly, both privately and publicly, about all of life, including politics and significant current issues. Before we get into the rationale, let’s begin with a story, shall we?
A Letter to the Government
In late April 2023, I was reading a World News Group article online by Levi Secord entitled “A Dangerous Precedent for Christian Parents.”1 The subtitle read “In Minnesota, the state can now take children from parents who refuse puberty blockers and mutilation.” The article explained how, in recent days, the Minnesota Senate had passed a bill called the Trans-Refuge Act. As a busy bi-vocational pastor, I had not been keeping as close tabs on what was happening at the state capitol recently. As I read the article, I became outraged at what our leftist politicians were engraving into state law.
1. Levi Secord, “A Dangerous Precedent for Christian Parents,” WORLD, April 28, 2023.
After reading the article, I did further research into what other devilry our legislature had done during this session. What I found was equally disturbing. Two other bills were passed, including the “Reproductive Freedom Defense Act,” which provided sweeping protections for people seeking and providing abortions in Minnesota. The other bill outlawed so-called “conversion therapy,” thereby banning psychologists and other mental health professionals from therapy intended to help people live according to their biological sex.
Upon learning about these bills, I was horrified and angered. I prayed about what I could and should do. The most immediate thing I could do seemed to be to pick up my pen to battle. I decided to write a letter to Governor Tim Walz to express deep concern, call out the evil that his government was perpetrating, and urge him to repent of his wickedness. I completed my first draft of the letter on May 1, 2023. Initially, I expected this to be a personal letter, signed by myself and perhaps a handful of other like-minded pastors. On May 3rd, I forwarded the letter to Eric Anderson. Eric agreed with the letter and asked if I would like him to forward it to other pastors for review/comment. Pastor Bob Dahlberg (Ely, MN) provided helpful feedback, and, I edited the letter accordingly. We decided to share the letter with other pastors in an effort to obtain more signatures. As we circulated the letter to other pastors in our networks, we found others eager to join us in taking a public stand against what was happening. In the end, we had 26 signatories.
Our plan was to get as many signatures as possible, then mail the letter to the Governor in early June. But then things took an unexpected turn. I received an email from a man named Tim Miller. Tim was a former state legislator who was working for Pro-Life Action Ministries at the time. He had been forwarded a copy of the letter and was eager to share it with other pastors to gain support. Tim connected me with Jeff Evans of the Minnesota Family Council and head of the Church Ambassador Network. Jeff encouraged me to hand-deliver the letter to the Governor (or at least to drop it off in person to his office) at the state capitol. He also encouraged me to write similar letters to the President of the Minnesota Senate and the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Our Meeting with Tim Walz
Getting a meeting with the Governor seemed unrealistic, if not impossible, but Tim agreed to try. Providentially, while Tim was a legislator, he was the lone republican to sign a transportation bill. Governor Walz asked him to do a press conference, which Tim agreed to, as long as the Governor acknowledged that “he owed [Tim] one.” Amazingly, the Governor agreed to a meeting.
On July 5th, Tim Miller, Eric Anderson, and I were allotted 15 minutes with the Governor at his capitol office. We presented the letter to Governor Walz and asked him to read it then. He did so. We discussed the issue of abortion primarily. The Governor was cordial but seemed unmoved by our call to repentance. He was unwilling to acknowledge God’s authority over him in his leadership position.
During this time, I was open with my congregation about what I was doing. We prayed together for a meeting with the Governor, and for God to grant him repentance. We prayed for other pastors to be willing to take a public stand for righteousness. I posted the final copy of the letter on the church bulletin board. I believed it was an important opportunity to model to my congregation how to be a faithful witness in the public sphere.
Going Further
I also followed through on Jeff Evan’s recommendation and wrote similar letters to the Democratic President of the Minnesota Senate, Bobby Joe Champion, and the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, Melissa Hortman. Several other pastors provided comments, which we incorporated into the final letters. Numerous other pastors also joined us in signing those letters. I delivered those letters with Levi Secord (and my 15-year-old son Hans) to Hortman and Champion’s offices on May 6, 2024.
Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed by a gunman 13 months later. The Sunday after her death, I spoke to my congregation from the pulpit. And I read part of the letter we had penned to her: “Representative Hortman, you have blood on your hands! God has been patient toward you. At any moment, He could administer his justice upon you, but in His kindness, He has waited. Take note of His kindness, for it is meant to lead you to repentance (Rom. 2:4). Repent, and change your ways before it is too late!” From the pulpit, I condemned the heinous murder of Hortman and her husband. But I also took the opportunity to address the wicked legislation she supported. And to recognize the sovereign hand of God both in his patience toward sinners and in his judgment upon the wicked.
—Pastor John Tramm
Eric’s Reflections: A Need for Courage
What you read was John’s testimony of what some had said was impossible (including my own state senator, who told me that Governor Walz “never works with or meets with conservatives”). We can testify, looking backward, that this was a Providential act of God. We can testify personally that our Governor (the Democrat’s 2024 Vice Presidential nominee) and other officials have heard both Scripture’s warning of judgment and its promise of forgiveness if they would repent to him. We say this with sober confidence. What also sobers us is how few pastors were willing to sign our letter and join us in this endeavor. Why is this? Why, in the face of laws which directly support wicked behavior and suppress freedom and righteousness (Rom. 1:16–32), will so few speak up? I think that it comes down to cowardice, a self-rationalizing condition that no amount of scriptural support will overcome.
How did we get to this point? I believe the answer also lies in that so many have reduced Christianity to a private form of expression. Homes? Yes. Churches? Of course, be a Christian. But Politics? No, that would be a bad witness. Christian camps, schools, and parachurches are the realm where our Christian witness lies. Or so the narrative goes. But in Genesis 1:1, we see that God alone is the creator and ruler of everything. Because of this, we can make a few simple cosmic truth statements. Jesus Christ came to save sinners, but also to establish his rightful kingship. Satan comes as the great twister and liar, who aims to build up his kingdom of darkness. If we only see the kingdom of God is the church and the home, we fail to observe the great spiritual battle which is at play in everything. God’s kingdom encompasses the whole world.
Prophetic Politics
We challenge every Christian to read the Bible cover-to-cover, with eyes looking for where God, through his prophets and pastors, is preaching to the world around him and its rulers. Look especially at the Psalms and Minor Prophets. If our witness is meant to be confined to the church, why is there a consistent warning to the nations, including the pagan and secular ones, and not just Israel (See Psalm 2, Jonah, Obadiah, etc.)?
Does not obedience unto God mean that, while we cannot be a witness to every tribe, nation, and neighborhood, we are to do so in those in which we dwell and belong? Is this not our stewardship: to speak the truth from the Ruler of the Universe wherever it is our responsibility? What does it mean to fear the Lord and not men? We have discovered those who join us in speaking truth to the authorities in power will do so without much convincing. Those who fear God and seek to obey him will take (if not create) the opportunities they have before them for obedience. It’s a common-sense decision. For those of whom the fear of man is a snare (Prov. 29:25), no amount of Scriptural propositions or examples was enough. This is the moral problem we face in many a pulpit today. The desire for growth and men’s praise also means silence in the arenas where truth might cost numbers, popularity, and influence.
Micah 6:8—He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
—Pastor Eric Anderson
Conclusion
Together, we would like to provide one final encouragement and a word of exhortation to our brothers who labor as pastors/elders. First, those who serve in political office are deserving of our respect and our prayers (1 Pet. 2:17; Rom. 13:7; 1 Tim. 2:1-2). We should not only call out evil policies and platforms, but also publicly rejoice with our people when politicians pursue justice and righteousness. Second, it also behooves us as pastors to be the first to repent. If you have let fear of man drive you to silence when you should have spoken (or to speak when you should have been silent), own it and repent—even if it was years ago. Confess publicly to your congregation. Be clear in what you did wrong, what lead you to operate in fear of men, how the grace of God lead you to see and acknowledge this, and how you will alter your behavior (Ps. 32). We believe and have personally seen the blessings upon a congregation when their leaders confess, repent, and change. This is how the church is reformed and renewed. Go for it!
