What’s in this Episode?

Pastors are uniquely position to greatly influence their community, not only in the church building, but also the local regulations, laws, and procedures. Alex Bryant and Richard Hardy talk about the importance of Pastors being involved in local, and national, politics. Alex Bryant is a disciple, husband, father, author, speaker, pastor, professor, and radio host.

 

Read the Transcript:

Richard Hardy 0:06
Hey, friends! It’s great to hang out with you today on this Church Tips Podcast. I’m here with my good buddy, Alex Bryant, from the great state of Missouri. Alex, say hi to everybody.

Alex Bryant 0:16
Thanks for having me. Richard, it’s a pleasure.

Richard Hardy 0:18
Hey, man! You know, Alex and I go way back. Man, how many years have we known each other, for goodness’ sake?

Alex Bryant 0:23
It’s gotta be about 20, years. Yeah.

Richard Hardy 0:25
I’m thinking, oh my goodness gracious. Now, Alex, I’m not going to share the advice you gave my son, but Alex, my son Jonathan, and I were out having breakfast before Jonathan got married. He had his eye on this gal, Ashley, and Alex gave him some golden advice. If you know me personally, you can ask me, and I’ll tell you what the golden advice was. But it worked!

Alex Bryant 0:49
I mean, he’s married. It works!

Richard Hardy 0:52
He got himself a great wife, gave me a wonderful daughter-in-law, and now we have three amazing grandchildren because of that. So, hey, I want to jump right into it. Alex and I have had a fascinating friendship over the years in ministry as pastors. One thing that many people might not know is that both of us have served in public service in our communities. I was on the Johnston Community School Board in suburban Des Moines for nine years, including one year as the board president. Alex is currently serving on the Nixa School Board, just outside of Springfield, Missouri, and is doing a great job.

Richard Hardy 1:36
Nixa is a wonderful community with a fantastic school district. We want to talk with you pastors about the whole subject of serving in your local community, where it tends not to be about Democrat or Republican. It’s simply this candidate, that candidate, or another candidate running for positions on school boards, city councils, and county commissions. So, Alex, why don’t you give us a jump start into this conversation? What should a pastor be thinking about, and why would you encourage a pastor to consider serving in this way and also encourage their congregation to do the same?

Alex Bryant 2:15
Yeah, you know, it’s really all about influence, Richard. The reality is, right now, someone is going to lead our communities. They’re going to lead our children. They’re going to decide what ideology and what worldview are positioned in our communities. And, man, for far too long, I believe that as pastors, we’ve been doing the Lord’s work—and I don’t want to cast any shade on any pastor. I get it. You’re preaching 52 weeks a year. You’re responsible for that, and our job is to go and preach the Gospel, to teach people, and to make disciples. I get all that.

Alex Bryant 2:56
Even for me, when I was on staff at a church or serving as a lead pastor, that was a handful. I didn’t think about any kind of politics. It was in 2018 when my wife and I attended a conference called the American Renewal Project, and that was the first time my eyes were opened to the fact that someone is going to influence culture.

Alex Bryant 3:20
In ministry, we’ve often thought, “Okay, we’ll influence spiritually and maybe even physically.” We engage with business leaders in the marketplace, but we’ve always shied away a little bit from politics and elected office. This American Renewal Project really opened my eyes to the Black Robe Brigade, even going back to the Revolutionary War, where pastors and preachers were preaching the Gospel. The Gospel, throughout the Bible, addresses issues, and Jesus talks about issues. The world is grappling with these important issues that will shape the next generation.

Alex Bryant 4:11
You guys know these issues well: social justice, racial justice, the advancement of the LGBTQ agenda, and the right for women to choose, which relates to abortion. If we don’t engage in this, our kids will be taught a worldview that’s antithetical to what we believe. It’s not biblical; it’s not a theological worldview. It’s a secular, humanistic worldview.

Alex Bryant 4:39
Honestly, what made me engage with my local school board— I ran for office, didn’t win, and then some of the ladies in our community came to me and asked, “Have you seen the books they have in the library at the public schools?” I didn’t believe it at first. I didn’t know what was in there, and they gave me some examples of them.

Alex Bryant 5:00
And the funny thing is, my wife was actually gone for a few weeks. You know, we have a child who’s on a cancer journey, and she was in Memphis at St. Jude’s with him. So I was at home with two of my younger kids. My college-age son was back home from school, and he saw these books on the counter. He flipped through them one day and said, “Dad, what are you looking at? Does Mom know you’re looking at this stuff?” And I was like, “Dude, these are from the school.” And he said, “No way, they’re not.”

Alex Bryant 5:28
It’s really bad. I mean, graphic novels with pictures of full-frontal men and women, and some of them with just the language they’re using. One book called Unpregnant, is teaching kids how and where to go for abortions. And when you look at the stuff that’s in the school libraries, it made me think, “Wait a minute. How did this happen? How did it get there?”

Alex Bryant 5:53
I realized that we had disengaged. We just assumed someone else was taking care of it and that they were upholding our values, but they’re not.

Alex Bryant 6:04
Missouri, the the home of the Assemblies of God.

Richard Hardy 6:05
And let me put a time out in here, too. For perspective, for pastors all over the country and around the world who are listening to this, Alex is in southwest Missouri, in the Springfield area. Many communities like to say they’re in the Bible Belt, and some even claim to be the buckle of the Bible Belt because there are so many Christians there. That’s where Alex lives. So what he just described to you is not happening on the West Coast—no offense to those who are watching from the West Coast—but you might expect to see more liberal influences there. This is Springfield, Missouri.

Alex Bryant 6:51
Missouri, the the home of the Assemblies of God.

Richard Hardy 6:54
And there are, like, three times more Baptists in this community than there are Assemblies of God. So we’ve got a big job in front of us, and I So Alex, that caused you to realize.

Alex Bryant 7:06
I realized someone had to step up and do something, and then, and then it just real. So if not me, then who? If not now, then when. And I realized people are looking for our parishioners. They’re looking for someone to teach them, to lead them.

Alex Bryant 7:21
I just went to lunch with a man who’s a 23 year Army veteran. He’s raising three boys. One of them’s off, you know, in the at West Point right now, and he’s like, man, Alex, I’ve been listening to you. I’ve been looking at your podcast. I’ve been listening to you on the radio, and you’re speaking my language.

Alex Bryant 7:37
He’s like, I’m so he goes, I am a man’s man. And that’s what he said. He goes. And I just need somebody to tell me that it’s okay to step up, to have my voice be heard. There’s people that want to lead, that need our example. And so I just thought, you know, you know, there’s, it’s important for us as pastors, number one to engage, to step up. I know we’re busy. I got a son who’s in a cancer journey. I got two of them that are in in college. I got two of them that are in the house. Total of five kids. You know, I do morning radio three and a half hours a day. I’m an adjunct professor Evangel.

Alex Bryant 8:09
I have my own ministry where I’m traveling 2530 weeks out of the year. I’m too busy for this. But this is important. I mean, these are our kids that’s in the school districts, and we have to step up and speak up for our value. We have to use our influence to be salt and light. That’s the whole reason why I’m doing it, and that’s why I think it’s important for all pastors to step in and engage. We’re the influencers in our community, and people want to hear our voice.

Richard Hardy 8:34
You know, one of the things I’ve mentioned to pastors and others that I’ve encouraged to consider is serving on school boards. Now, we’re focusing on school boards because this is very relevant for Alex, and it’s something I’ve done as well, but it’s the same principle for city councils and county commissions. It’s all about being present and involved in our communities.

Richard Hardy 8:58
But when people say to me, “I’m not qualified,” I tell them to step back for a second. If there are—how many school board members do you have, Alex? Seven? Yes, seven. Okay, seven school board members. Alex is sitting in one of those spots. That means someone with a potentially harmful or misguided worldview, who might want to negatively impact your children, is not sitting in one of those spots.

Alex Bryant 9:27
I want to say, they come in with an agenda. That’s who I ran against—someone who had an agenda to push the LGBTQ agenda in our community. And people were like, “Alex, we need you.” I didn’t know what to do. I went to the library and checked out a book on how to run for office. And then I talked to you, Richard. I was like, “Richard, I need you. What do I do? What am I going to do?” And so, yeah, I mean, we learn on the fly, but we have to do it.

Richard Hardy 9:55
Remember, in Johnston, when I was there, another gal from our church and I—at the time, I was a staff pastor at First Assembly—we ran for the school board. There were three seats open, and one of the incumbents got back in, plus Becky and me. So immediately, two out of the seven board members were now Christ followers, and that school district was growing rapidly. We were originally five board members, then expanded to seven. We took the two new seats, and a couple of years later, a guy named Robert ran, so now we had three people—happening to be three people from the same church. It doesn’t have to be that way. The point is, there were three people with a Christ-centered worldview. Amen. That’s what we want to encourage.

Richard Hardy 10:44
Alex and I want to encourage you to think about that for your city council, your county commission, your school board. If you’re there, that means somebody else is not there. Even if you don’t feel highly qualified, your presence, with the Spirit of the Lord, emanates from you.

Alex Bryant 11:04
And you’re speaking for your flock. They want someone to speak for them. And I’ll say this too, Richard—you’re going to inspire other people. I’ve already seen that happen. I’ve only been on the school board for a little over a year, and there are other people in our community who are saying, “Okay, hey, I’m going to run next time,” or “I want to run.” So, you’re inspiring people.

Alex Bryant 11:22
And, you know, for those pastors who are like, “Hey, I want to stay away from politics,” the school board is nonpartisan. You don’t declare Republican or Democrat. It’s nonpartisan. You’re running for values, for conservative Christian values. Now, I think you should also consider running for other seats—city council, like you said, county commissioner—all those seats, even if they seem intimidating.

Richard Hardy 11:44
They’re nonpartisan. Most of the time, it’s just you against another candidate. Let me tell you, and Alex and I didn’t discuss this ahead of time, so I hope it matches up. The overwhelming majority of the stuff you’re going to deal with on the school board is very mundane, very routine. You’ll be voting overwhelmingly, seven to zero, on things. You know, the stuff that makes it into the newspaper or TV is usually some wild, crazy incident, right?

Richard Hardy 12:16
But let me give you an example from my experience. That book you were talking about—we had a book turned in by a kindergarten parent. It looked colorful, but when you really looked at it, it just felt dark. It was turned in to the curriculum director, who was a Baptist gal. The school superintendent we had was an Evangelical Free man, and I’m Assemblies of God. The three of us were sitting in the curriculum director’s office. That book came to us—not in a school board meeting, just the three of us discussing it—and that book was gone. Why? Because three good people were making a good decision for kindergarteners in our school district.

Richard Hardy 13:15
And that’s what you get to do. You get to have influence that way.

Alex Bryant 13:19
The reality is this: we are the last line of defense against policies coming from Washington that don’t align with our conservative Christian worldview. You look at it now—this particular administration is trying to use our funds, even for things like lunch reimbursements for students, to enforce certain language use, pronouns, and policies related to trans athletes in women’s sports. These are issues that are on the horizon, and our parishioners and community members need people who are going to stand up, know what the Bible has to say, understand it, and then lead with love, grace, and boldness.

Alex Bryant 14:05
We need to say, “Listen, adults can do what they want, but we have to protect our children.” That’s what it’s about: protecting our children. I have three kids still in the school district, and some of you may say, “Well, my kids are already out.” But you’ve got grandkids, and you have parishioners with kids in the school districts. We have to know what’s going on. We are already respected in our communities, we already have a level of name recognition, and it’s easier for us to do this. It doesn’t cost a lot. We just have to be willing to step up and serve.

Richard Hardy 14:36
that’s good. That’s good. Alex.

Richard Hardy 14:37
This has been absolutely great content. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to our pastors. You know, as a parting thought, if these guys and gals don’t remember anything else you said, what is the one thing you want them to grab hold of and remember from our conversation?

Alex Bryant 14:57
You know, we have to step in and engage. For me, the American Renewal Project was my eye-opener to the fact that, as pastors, yes, we have to preach the Gospel, but a part of the Gospel is leading people in these theological issues that they’re grappling with in society, which have been relegated to the political arena. We have to step in, engage, and take those back—to teach people what a true biblical, theological worldview is on these issues. That’s where we’re needed.

Richard Hardy 15:27
So good, Alex. Thank you. A couple side notes I want to mention here I’ve got Alex’s book here

Alex Bryant 15:35
Released in August of 2023,

Richard Hardy 15:43
Man Up a guide to godly masculinity. I cannot recommend this highly enough. I know Alex. He’s a godly man, and just absolutely great content. And so you can get that on Amazon, or his website: alexbryant.org

Richard Hardy 16:04
alexbryant.org is the website. I would encourage you, if you have any questions for Alex, just go to alexbryant.org, and he’ll be glad to answer anything he can. Alex is also a pastor and communicator, and if you’d like to talk with him about coming and speaking at your church, he’s available. Again, you can contact him through alexbryant.org, and he’ll be glad to provide you with all the details on how that works. And I’ve heard him speak, and let me tell you, you will not be disappointed.

Richard Hardy 16:45
I learned from you Richard!

Richard Hardy 16:46
Oh, man, you’ve gone way beyond that. So, friends, thank you very much for taking the time. Alex, thank you for being with us. It’s been great to just share, and I’m excited to think about what the future holds. In fact, Alex, I didn’t give you a heads-up on this, but I know you’ll do it. I’d like to ask you to pray for the pastors who are watching this, that they would allow the Holy Spirit to move in their hearts and get involved.

Alex Bryant 17:11
Lord, we just thank You so much for each and every pastor who is listening to this, who is watching this. Lord, I just pray that You begin to speak to their hearts and minds right now. Lord God, ignite within them a holy indignation to realize that there is a battle, the lines have been drawn, and You have called us and ordained us to be the shepherds of the flock. God, it’s time to protect, to lead, and to guide our flock.

Alex Bryant 17:38
I pray, Lord, no condemnation, no guilt on any pastor watching this. But God, I pray that You are stirring something up in their hearts and giving them the desire to step in, to step up, and to lead in our communities, Lord God—in our cities, in our state, and even in our nation. Lord, we just pray that they have the Spirit of the Lord upon them, that they have the wisdom of the Word, and that the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding them. There are no better leaders that You can call to these elected offices.

Alex Bryant 18:08
So I pray, in the name of Jesus, begin to do a great work, and we thank You for it. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Speaker 1 18:14
Amen, amen. What a way to end the podcast. Again, friends, thanks for taking the time to hang out with us. Make it a great day, and be blessed!

Jonathan Hardy 18:21
Hey, Jonathan here real quick before you go. Everything in your ministry rises and falls on your leadership. So investing in your leadership is essential to staying healthy and growing the ministry. And that’s why I want to invite you to join us inside the leaders dot church membership. This online streaming service for pastors gives you access to more than 300 videos plus training material to level up your leadership and improve your ministry skills. If you’d like to do that I want to invite you to go to leaders dot church slash booths. Again, that’s leaders dot church slash boost. Well, thanks again for joining us on the church tips podcast. We’ll look forward to seeing you next time.

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