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04 January 2012
We asked six influential ministry leaders to tell us their stories of the toughest leadership decision they’d ever made—and how they went about making the decision. We've already heard from Craig Groeschel, Nancy Ortberg, Glenn Packiam and Richard Stearns. Now, Dr. Joel C. Hunter tells us how he decided to pray at the Democratic National Convention.
How do you decide whether or not to expose your family to scrutiny and yourself to continual mischaracterizations?
Only a few months had passed since I was the president-elect of the Christian Coalition of America. That had been my first national test as I stepped outside the boundaries (and comfort) of normal local church life.
Would my recent, and very public, departure from that role because of philosophical differences make it seem like I was now flip-flopping? Perhaps it would seem like I was swinging toward the opposite side by praying the benediction at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. And what about that prayer? Would I end the prayer with “… in Jesus’ name” even though I knew only Christians could pray that phrase with integrity and thousands of attendees were not Christians?
To be sure, all local churches experience risk when it comes to outreach and mission. Every time a pastor or congregation member steps outside the walls of a church building, we open ourselves up to a broader array of judgments and questions from those who do not know our intentions: “What are they sticking their noses into now?”
I understood that with national exposure, the media’s inclination would be to pose stories in ways that portray and create conflict. There would be some in the congregation I serve who would question my motives. Some would write scathing emails; some would lecture me in the hallways.
Furthermore, I was well aware that for an evangelical, any association with the Democratic Party (I was a Republican at the time and have since become an Independent) could be perceived as folly. Hard-right Christians would send me pictures of mangled babies, some people in my congregation would walk out without hesitating for an explanation, and my own family would have to field questions in their circles of relationships: “What in the world is your husband/father/grandfather/brother/uncle/cousin thinking?”
My opinions on the controversial moral issues of our time were already out there—environmental protection, fighting world poverty, abortion reduction along with a focus on legal elimination, equal civil rights for all people while maintaining a traditional view of marriage. But if I stood on that stage in Denver and prayed, I would hear more, angrier and louder voices than ever. How ironic that a prayer would keep my life and the life of my congregational leadership in some turmoil for years to come.
And I had to wrestle with my own demons of temptation: Was there indeed a part of me that was tempted by a larger spotlight? Come what may, would I be able to keep my temper in check? Would I be detoured from my priorities of personal time with God, with family, with my congregation?
There was no shortage of well-known Christian leaders chiming in about me praying at the DNC: “You’re cutting off the head of the Republican Party!” “You are aiding a man who is a closet [supply the rumor du jour].” “You are selling out. Everyone will think you are a liberal.” Billy Graham, though, was supportive of the idea and told me to pray anything God laid on my heart.
As an evangelical, I looked for scriptural guidance and was quickly reminded there were many prophets who had been in God-given roles as “outside agitators” calling for repentance: Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea. But there had been just as many advisors who God had placed inside: Joseph, Esther, Daniel, Nehemiah and Nathan, among others. The biblical mandate had, and still has, a place for both kinds of witnesses.
So how did I finally make my decision to pray at the DNC and to become a spiritual advisor to Barack Obama both before and after the election? I simply reviewed my understanding of what a pastor does: A pastor helps all people look to God.
