Politics and the Church

The church would seem to be a strange place for politics since the mission of the church is the Great Commission. Where does Global Warming, Obama, an economic stimulus plan, or even Neil Boortz...fit in a service. Right before the greeting??? Probably not. It's an interesting question when placed in the context of a brand new church. Different groups of people are coming together with differing views on these issues and many more issues too. At Discover Point Church we decided a long time ago that we would focus on the things that unite us not the things that divide us.
When we first were starting the church we went to an older pastor with many more years in ministry than any of us. He focused in on this core value that we shared and said....we have to much of that in the church. To many times we are focusing of things that divide each other. I didn't know how wise that counsel was until years later. We have a richly diverse church. Many different people who think alot of different things. Some about politics, some about gifts of the spirit, some about parenting, or budgeting. We have the freedom to believe differently on non essentials.
So i would say politics are a nonessential while I am sure it doesn't feel that way when you have to pay more taxes or watch the congress spending your money in crazy ways. Leave it at the door to reach more people for Jesus.