The Meaning of Prayer at a Political Convention
As an Anglican clergy member, I have prayed for political leaders as a regular feature of my life. Each Sunday, at the church I attend with my family, we have a moment set aside to remember those who have political power. These intercessions are not declarations of policy agreement. I have prayed publicly for George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Prayers at political conventions feel different. Mixed in with the cascade of praise for the candidate, prayers at these events can take on the feel of a religious veneer for certain policies.
Credit…Thalassa Raasch for The New York Times
But if we are speaking to God, we must be honest about the things we need from politicians to enable human flourishing. Prayers that evoke only blessings or protection are inadequate accounts of our faith. They run the danger of turning the church into a chaplain of the empires on the left or the right. The church functions best as the conscience of a nation, reminding parties of higher goods.
In the Christian tradition, prayers are also supposed to remind politicians of their limits. There is someone above and beyond them who will render judgment upon their actions. Prayers ought to highlight the tremendous responsibility that comes with governing. Politicians should at times be unnerved and humbled, not simply congratulated.
The challenge the Black church posed to slavery and later Jim Crow was not rooted in some kind of novel interpretation of a particular law or agreement with one party’s political platform. It was a moral claim that people who were made in the image of God deserved to be treated with dignity and respect. That idea — that all human beings, regardless of their nation of origin, deserve our attention, compassion and support — still shakes the halls of power.
If we entrust the future to God’s providence, we don’t need the whole world watching us to say as much. The most important prayers for politicians might just be the ones that nobody hears but God.
Esau McCaulley (@esaumccaulley) is a contributing Opinion writer and the author of “How Far to the Promised Land: One Black Family’s Story of Hope and Survival in the American South” and the children’s book “Andy Johnson and the March for Justice.” He is an associate professor of New Testament and public theology at Wheaton College.
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