A New Strategy for Pastors to Help Shape American Politics

No doubt, the spiritual climate in America has many in the faith community concerned.

For that reason, some suggest that pastors are needed in the political arena to help restore America's Christian heritage.

Watch CBN's David Brody's interview David Lane.

David Lane, founding director of the American Renewal Project, encourages pastors to run for public office.

"If the Lord does it, we're going to turn America back to him and re-establish a Christian culture that's going to be done by pastors and pews," Lane told CBN News.

In January of 2015, Lane implemented a goal of recruiting 100,000 pastors, their friends, family members and congregants across America to consider running for office.

And pastors are heeding the call. More than 500 pastors have pledged to run for political office.

"We are raising an army," Lane was quoted as saying in an article with PJ Media.

Many point out that pastors are uniquely qualified to handle the tasks of public office because most are already counseling people who are hurting, discouraged, and broken. They also are acquainted with the struggles and needs of their congregants and often with the needs of their communities.

In an interview with The Washington Times, Lane said, "Somebody's values are going to reign supreme: our values or their values."

"If our people are not voting and are not being salt and light and not engaging at the public square, the other side's values are going to reign supreme," Lane said.

But the question of whether a pastor or a Christian should be involved with politics often stirs debate both within and outside the faith community.

In 2014, Pastor Rob McCoy, of Calvary Chapel Thousand Oaks, took a shot at running for polical office.

"Every single person in this room has been inculcated and trained to think that any time a pastor opens his mouth to talk about politics from the pulpit, that's wrong," McCoy told his church. "You've been taught incorrectly. There should be no other place that you should speak of it but from the pulpit."

McCoy came within 5,000 votes of victory in his race for the California State Assembly. He later went on to win a seat on the Thousand Oaks City Council.

Lane was impressed with the pastor's campaign.

"There are 100,000 pastors on my email list, and I started thinking what if the Lord were to call 1,000 pastors in 2016 to run for county commissioner, and city council, and school board, and mayor, and Congress," Lane speculated.

"Let us say they did only half as good as my pastor did with volunteers -- they only had 300 volunteers per campaign -- that would be a 300,000 grass-roots precinct-level explosion in the public square," he said.

"It would change America, and that is what I am up to," Lane explained.