Dr. Al Mohler, the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, was asked by CNN to give some unsolicited advice to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on his upcoming address to the evangelical college Liberty University. He speaks with his usual good sense to political and cultural issues. Here was his council:
At Liberty University, Romney faces the opportunity to introduce himself to American evangelicals in a whole new way. He is speaking as the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, and this represents a crucial moment for his campaign.
As he addresses evangelicals, Romney’s most important goal must be to speak as himself. He should speak of his faith and his convictions. He should identify himself as a Mormon whose worldview is shaped by his faith.
He should draw clear lines from his faith to his political principles, speaking of his concern for the culture, marriage, the family and the future of our nation. He should speak without hesitation, explaining how he arrived at his most important political and moral convictions.
He should not try to bridge the theological gulf that separates Mormons from evangelical Christians, but he should point directly to common concerns and shared convictions about the crucial issues facing our nation. He should acknowledge the fact that he is a Mormon and that he has taken his faith seriously as it informs his worldview. Evangelicals respect an honest statement of theological difference, for we take theology seriously.
He should remind the audience at Liberty University that he is not running to be their preacher but to be their president. He should speak to shared political and policy concerns, making clear the fact that his policies emerge from a deep reservoir of commitment.
The governor will serve himself and his campaign well by telling evangelicals his story, understanding that it is very different from their story. Like most Americans, evangelicals would choose, if possible, to elect one of their own.
Nevertheless, evangelicals have demonstrated a readiness to vote for serious candidates who represent very different theological understandings but share a common set of concerns for the nation, rooted in an overlapping of worldviews.
If Romney seizes the moment at Liberty University, he will make history for himself, for his campaign and for the nation.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/11/unsolicited-advice-what-should-mitt-romney-say-at-liberty-university/?iref=allsearch
This morning on his daily news podcast "The Briefing," Dr. Mohler reflected on how Mr. Romney's speech compared to his counsel. In the process, he said this (which I was intrigued to hear since it was almost verbatim of counsel I gave someone in an email).
"I think one of the most dangerous things that can happen here from a Christian perspective is that in the context of this political issue, we can minimize the theological differences between orthodox Christianity and Mormonism, or on the other hand we can act as if those differences existing--that necessarily means that we cannot vote for a Mormon. Those are two very different things..."
Listen to the rest of the Podcast for further explanation and commentary on Mr. Romney's address to Liberty University. In fact, I would encourage listening to it daily--it's only about 12 minutes long. Evangelicals would do well to learn from Dr. Mohler's content and tone on political matters.
http://www.albertmohler.com/2012/05/14/the-briefing-05-14-12/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlbertMohlerTheBriefing+%28AlbertMohler.com+%E2%80%93+The+Briefing%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
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