September 24, 2024 • 19 mins
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 full transcript, watch the video version, and discover more great resources here: https://leaders.church/podcast/ep-136-pastors-politics
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Episode Transcript
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Richard Hardy (00:06):
Hey, friends! It’s great to hang out with you
today on this Church TipsPodcast. I’m here with my good
buddy, Alex Bryant, from thegreat state of Missouri. Alex,
say hi to everybody.
Alex Bryant (00:16):
Thanks for having me. Richard, it's a pleasure.
Richard Hardy (00:18):
Hey, man! You know, Alex and I go way back.
Man, how many years have weknown each other, for goodness'
sake?
Alex Bryant (00:23):
It's gotta be about 20, years. Yeah.
Richard Hardy (00:25):
I’m thinking, oh my goodness gracious. Now, Alex,
I’m not going to share theadvice you gave my son, but
Alex, my son Jonathan, and Iwere out having breakfast before
Jonathan got married. He had hiseye on this gal, Ashley, and
Alex gave him some goldenadvice. If you know me
personally, you can ask me, andI’ll tell you what the golden
(00:47):
advice was. But it worked!
Alex Bryant (00:49):
I mean, he's married. It works!
Richard Hardy (00:52):
He got himself a great wife, gave me a wonderful
daughter-in-law, and now we havethree amazing grandchildren
because of that. So, hey, I wantto jump right into it. Alex and
I have had a fascinatingfriendship over the years in
ministry as pastors. One thingthat many people might not know
(01:13):
is that both of us have servedin public service in our
communities. I was on theJohnston Community School Board
in suburban Des Moines for nineyears, including one year as the
board president. Alex iscurrently serving on the Nixa
School Board, just outside ofSpringfield, Missouri, and is
(01:34):
doing a great job.
Nixa is a wonderful communitywith a fantastic school
district. We want to talk withyou pastors about the whole
subject of serving in your localcommunity, where it tends not to
be about Democrat or Republican.
It’s simply this candidate, thatcandidate, or another candidate
running for positions on schoolboards, city councils, and
(01:56):
county commissions. So, Alex,why don’t you give us a jump
start into this conversation?
What should a pastor be thinkingabout, and why would you
encourage a pastor to considerserving in this way and also
encourage their congregation todo the same?
Alex Bryant (02:15):
Yeah, you know, it’s really all about influence,
Richard. The reality is, rightnow, someone is going to lead
our communities. They’re goingto lead our children. They’re
going to decide what ideologyand what worldview are
positioned in our communities.
And, man, for far too long, Ibelieve that as pastors, we’ve
(02:37):
been doing the Lord’s work—and Idon’t want to cast any shade on
any pastor. I get it. You’repreaching 52 weeks a year.
You’re responsible for that, andour job is to go and preach the
Gospel, to teach people, and tomake disciples. I get all that.
Even for me, when I was on staffat a church or serving as a lead
(03:01):
pastor, that was a handful. Ididn’t think about any kind of
politics. It was in 2018 when mywife and I attended a conference
called the American RenewalProject, and that was the first
time my eyes were opened to thefact that someone is going to
influence culture.
In ministry, we’ve oftenthought, “Okay, we’ll influence
(03:27):
spiritually and maybe evenphysically.” We engage with
business leaders in themarketplace, but we’ve always
shied away a little bit frompolitics and elected office.
This American Renewal Projectreally opened my eyes to the
(03:48):
Black Robe Brigade, even goingback to the Revolutionary War,
where pastors and preachers werepreaching the Gospel. The
Gospel, throughout the Bible,addresses issues, and Jesus
talks about issues. The world isgrappling with these important
issues that will shape the nextgeneration.
(04:11):
social justice, racial justice,the advancement of the LGBTQ
agenda, and the right for womento choose, which relates to
abortion. If we don’t engage inthis, our kids will be taught a
worldview that’s antithetical towhat we believe. It’s not
biblical; it’s not a theologicalworldview. It’s a secular,
(04:35):
humanistic worldview.
Honestly, what made me engagewith my local school board— I
ran for office, didn’t win, andthen some of the ladies in our
community came to me and asked,“Have you seen the books they
have in the library at thepublic schools?” I didn’t
(04:57):
believe it at first. I didn’tknow what was in there, and they
And the funny thing is, my wifewas actually gone for a few
Richard Hardy (04:59):
And let me put a time out in here, too. For
weeks. You know, we have a childwho’s on a cancer journey, and
perspective, for pastors allover the country and around the
she was in Memphis at St. Jude’swith him. So I was at home with
(05:19):
world who are listening to this,Alex is in southwest Missouri,
two of my younger kids. Mycollege-age son was back home
gave me some examples of them.
from school, and he saw thesebooks on the counter. He flipped
in the Springfield area. Manycommunities like to say they’re
(05:39):
through them one day and said,“Dad, what are you looking at?
in the Bible Belt, and some evenclaim to be the buckle of the
Does Mom know you’re looking atthis stuff?” And I was like,
Bible Belt because there are somany Christians there. That’s
“Dude, these are from theschool.” And he said, “No way,
(06:03):
they’re not.”Missouri, the the home of the
Assemblies of God.
where Alex lives. So what hejust described to you is not
happening on the West Coast—nooffense to those who are
Alex Bryant (06:20):
Missouri, the the home of the Assemblies of God.
Richard Hardy (06:27):
And there are, like, three times more Baptists
watching from the West Coast—butyou might expect to see more
liberal influences there. Thisis Springfield, Missouri.
(06:57):
in this community than there areAssemblies of God. So we've got
a big job in front of us, and ISo Alex, that caused you to
Alex Bryant (07:06):
I realized someone had to step up and do something,
realize.
and then, and then it just real.
So if not me, then who? If notnow, then when. And I realized
people are looking for ourparishioners. They're looking
for someone to teach them, tolead them.
I just went to lunch with a manwho's a 23 year Army veteran.
He's raising three boys. One ofthem's off, you know, in the at
(07:29):
West Point right now, and he'slike, man, Alex, I've been
listening to you. I've beenlooking at your podcast. I've
been listening to you on theradio, and you're speaking my
language.
He's like, I'm so he goes, I ama man's man. And that's what he
said. He goes. And I just needsomebody to tell me that it's
okay to step up, to have myvoice be heard. There's people
that want to lead, that need ourexample. And so I just thought,
(07:51):
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 cancerjourney. I got two of them that
are in in college. I got two ofthem that are in the house.
Total of five kids. You know, Ido morning radio three and a
half hours a day. I'm an adjunctprofessor Evangel.
I have my own ministry where I'mtraveling 2530 weeks out of the
(08:12):
year. I'm too busy for this. Butthis is important. I mean, these
are our kids that's in theschool districts, and we have to
step up and speak up for ourvalue. We have to use our
influence to be salt and light.
That's the whole reason why I'mdoing it, and that's why I think
it's important for all pastorsto step in and engage. We're the
influencers in our community,and people want to hear our
voice.
Richard Hardy (08:33):
You know, one of the things I’ve mentioned to
pastors and others that I’veencouraged to consider is
serving on school boards. Now,we’re focusing on school boards
because this is very relevantfor Alex, and it’s something
I’ve done as well, but it’s thesame principle for city councils
and county commissions. It’s allabout being present and involved
(08:54):
in our communities.
But when people say to me, “I’mnot qualified,” I tell them to
step back for a second. If thereare—how many school board
members do you have, Alex?
Seven? Yes, seven. Okay, sevenschool board members. Alex is
sitting in one of those spots.
(09:14):
That means someone with apotentially harmful or misguided
worldview, who might want tonegatively impact your children,
is not sitting in one of thosespots.
Alex Bryant (09:26):
I want to say, they come in with an agenda. That’s
who I ran against—someone whohad an agenda to push the LGBTQ
agenda in our community. Andpeople were like, “Alex, we need
you.” I didn’t know what to do.
I went to the library andchecked out a book on how to run
for office. And then I talked toyou, Dick. I was like, “Dick, I
need you. What do I do? What amI going to do?” And so, yeah, I
(09:47):
mean, we learn on the fly, butwe have to do it.
Richard Hardy (09:55):
Remember, in Johnston, when I was there,
another gal from our church andI—at the time, I was a staff
pastor at First Assembly—we ranfor the school board. There were
three seats open, and one of theincumbents got back in, plus
Becky and me. So immediately,two out of the seven board
(10:15):
members were now Christfollowers, and that school
district was growing rapidly. Wewere originally five board
members, then expanded to seven.
We took the two new seats, and acouple of years later, a guy
named Robert ran, so now we hadthree people—happening to be
three people from the samechurch. It doesn’t have to be
that way. The point is, therewere three people with a
(10:36):
Christ-centered worldview. Amen.
That’s what we want toencourage.
Alex and I want to encourage youto think about that for your
city council, your countycommission, your school board.
If you’re there, that meanssomebody else is not there. Even
if you don’t feel highlyqualified, your presence, with
(11:01):
the Spirit of the Lord, emanatesfrom you.
Alex Bryant (11:04):
And you’re speaking for your flock. They want
someone to speak for them. AndI’ll say this too, Dick—you’re
going to inspire other people.
I’ve already seen that happen.
I’ve only been on the schoolboard for a little over a year,
and there are other people inour community who are saying,
“Okay, hey, I’m going to runnext time,” or “I want to run.”
So, you’re inspiring people.
And, you know, for those pastorswho are like, “Hey, I want to
(11:24):
stay away from politics,” theschool board is nonpartisan. You
don’t declare Republican orDemocrat. It’s nonpartisan.
You’re running for values, forconservative Christian values.
Now, I think you should alsoconsider running for other
seats—city council, like yousaid, county commissioner—all
those seats, even if they seemintimidating.
Richard Hardy (11:44):
They’re nonpartisan. Most of the time,
it’s just you against anothercandidate. Let me tell you, and
Alex and I didn’t discuss thisahead of time, so I hope it
matches up. The overwhelmingmajority of the stuff you’re
going to deal with on the schoolboard is very mundane, very
routine. You’ll be votingoverwhelmingly, seven to zero,
(12:08):
on things. You know, the stuffthat makes it into the newspaper
or TV is usually some wild,crazy incident, right?
But let me give you an examplefrom my experience. That book
you were talking about—we had abook turned in by a kindergarten
parent. It looked colorful, butwhen you really looked at it, it
(12:30):
just felt dark. It was turned into the curriculum director, who
was a Baptist gal. The schoolsuperintendent we had was an
Evangelical Free man, and I’mAssemblies of God. The three of
(12:53):
us were sitting in thecurriculum director’s office.
That book came to us—not in aschool board meeting, just the
three of us discussing it—andthat book was gone. Why? Because
three good people were making agood decision for
kindergarteners in our schooldistrict.
(13:15):
And that’s what you get to do.
You get to have influence thatway.
Alex Bryant (13:19):
The reality is this
defense against policies comingfrom Washington that don’t align
with our conservative Christianworldview. You look at it
now—this particularadministration is trying to use
our funds, even for things likelunch reimbursements for
(13:43):
students, to enforce certainlanguage use, pronouns, and
policies related to transathletes in women’s sports.
These are issues that are on thehorizon, and our parishioners
and community members needpeople who are going to stand
up, know what the Bible has tosay, understand it, and then
lead with love, grace, andboldness.
(14:05):
We need to say, “Listen, adultscan do what they want, but we
have to protect our children.”That’s what it’s about:
protecting our children. I havethree kids still in the school
district, and some of you maysay, “Well, my kids are already
out.” But you’ve got grandkids,and you have parishioners with
kids in the school districts. Wehave to know what’s going on. We
(14:26):
are already respected in ourcommunities, we already have a
level of name recognition, andit’s easier for us to do this.
It doesn’t cost a lot. We justhave to be willing to step up
and serve.
Richard Hardy (14:35):
that's good.
That's good. Alex.
This has been absolutely greatcontent. I really appreciate you
taking the time to talk to ourpastors. You know, as a parting
thought, if these guys and galsdon’t remember anything else you
said, what is the one thing youwant 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 wasmy eye-opener to the fact that,
as pastors, yes, we have topreach the Gospel, but a part of
the Gospel is leading people inthese theological issues that
they’re grappling with insociety, which have been
relegated to the politicalarena. We have to step in,
(15:18):
engage, and take those back—toteach people what a true
biblical, theological worldviewis on these issues. That’s where
we’re needed.
Richard Hardy (15:26):
So good, Alex.
Thank you. A couple side notes Iwant 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. Iknow Alex. He's a godly man, and
just absolutely great content.
And so you can get that on
Amazon, or his w (15:58):
alexbryant.org alexbryant.org is the website. I
would encourage you, if you haveany questions for Alex, just go
to alexbryant.org, and he’ll beglad to answer anything he can.
(16:20):
Alex is also a pastor andcommunicator, and if you’d like
to talk with him about comingand speaking at your church,
he’s available. Again, you cancontact him through
alexbryant.org, and he’ll beglad to provide you with all the
details on how that works. AndI’ve heard him speak, and let me
(16:40):
tell you, you will not bedisappointed.
I learned from you Richard!Oh, man, you’ve gone way beyond
that. So, friends, thank youvery much for taking the time.
Alex, thank you for being withus. It’s been great to just
share, and I’m excited to thinkabout what the future holds. In
fact, Alex, I didn’t give you aheads-up on this, but I know
(17:02):
you’ll do it. I’d like to askyou to pray for the pastors who
are watching this, that theywould allow the Holy Spirit to
move in their hearts and get
Alex Bryant (17:10):
Lord, we just thank You so much for each and every
involved.
pastor who is listening to this,who is watching this. Lord, I
just pray that You begin tospeak to their hearts and minds
right now. Lord God, ignitewithin them a holy indignation
to realize that there is abattle, the lines have been
drawn, and You have called usand ordained us to be the
(17:33):
shepherds of the flock. God,it’s time to protect, to lead,
and to guide our flock.
I pray, Lord, no condemnation,no guilt on any pastor watching
this. But God, I pray that Youare stirring something up in
their hearts and giving them thedesire to step in, to step up,
and to lead in our communities,Lord God—in our cities, in our
(17:54):
state, and even in our nation.
Lord, we just pray that theyhave the Spirit of the Lord upon
them, that they have the wisdomof the Word, and that the Holy
Spirit is leading and guidingthem. There are no better
leaders that You can call tothese elected offices.
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.
Richard Hardy (18:13):
Amen, amen. What a way to end the podcast. Again,
friends, thanks for taking thetime 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 ministryrises and falls on your
leadership. So investing in yourleadership is essential to
staying healthy and growing theministry, and that's why I want
to invite you to join us insidethe leaders dot church
membership, this onlinestreaming service for pastors
gives you access to more than300 videos plus training
material to level up yourleadership and improve your
ministry skills. If you'd liketo do that, I want to invite you
(18:44):
to go to Leaders.Church/boost t.
Again, that'sLeaders.Church/Boost. Well,
thanks again for joining us onthe church tips podcast. We'll
look forward to seeing you nexttime
Hey, friends! It’s great to hang out with you
today on this Church TipsPodcast. I’m here with my good
buddy, Alex Bryant, from thegreat state of Missouri. Alex,
say hi to everybody.
Alex Bryant (00:16):
Thanks for having me. Richard, it's a pleasure.
Richard Hardy (00:18):
Hey, man! You know, Alex and I go way back.
Man, how many years have weknown each other, for goodness'
sake?
Alex Bryant (00:23):
It's gotta be about 20, years. Yeah.
Richard Hardy (00:25):
I’m thinking, oh my goodness gracious. Now, Alex,
I’m not going to share theadvice you gave my son, but
Alex, my son Jonathan, and Iwere out having breakfast before
Jonathan got married. He had hiseye on this gal, Ashley, and
Alex gave him some goldenadvice. If you know me
personally, you can ask me, andI’ll tell you what the golden
(00:47):
advice was. But it worked!
Alex Bryant (00:49):
I mean, he's married. It works!
Richard Hardy (00:52):
He got himself a great wife, gave me a wonderful
daughter-in-law, and now we havethree amazing grandchildren
because of that. So, hey, I wantto jump right into it. Alex and
I have had a fascinatingfriendship over the years in
ministry as pastors. One thingthat many people might not know
(01:13):
is that both of us have servedin public service in our
communities. I was on theJohnston Community School Board
in suburban Des Moines for nineyears, including one year as the
board president. Alex iscurrently serving on the Nixa
School Board, just outside ofSpringfield, Missouri, and is
(01:34):
doing a great job.
Nixa is a wonderful communitywith a fantastic school
district. We want to talk withyou pastors about the whole
subject of serving in your localcommunity, where it tends not to
be about Democrat or Republican.
It’s simply this candidate, thatcandidate, or another candidate
running for positions on schoolboards, city councils, and
(01:56):
county commissions. So, Alex,why don’t you give us a jump
start into this conversation?
What should a pastor be thinkingabout, and why would you
encourage a pastor to considerserving in this way and also
encourage their congregation todo the same?
Alex Bryant (02:15):
Yeah, you know, it’s really all about influence,
Richard. The reality is, rightnow, someone is going to lead
our communities. They’re goingto lead our children. They’re
going to decide what ideologyand what worldview are
positioned in our communities.
And, man, for far too long, Ibelieve that as pastors, we’ve
(02:37):
been doing the Lord’s work—and Idon’t want to cast any shade on
any pastor. I get it. You’repreaching 52 weeks a year.
You’re responsible for that, andour job is to go and preach the
Gospel, to teach people, and tomake disciples. I get all that.
Even for me, when I was on staffat a church or serving as a lead
(03:01):
pastor, that was a handful. Ididn’t think about any kind of
politics. It was in 2018 when mywife and I attended a conference
called the American RenewalProject, and that was the first
time my eyes were opened to thefact that someone is going to
influence culture.
In ministry, we’ve oftenthought, “Okay, we’ll influence
(03:27):
spiritually and maybe evenphysically.” We engage with
business leaders in themarketplace, but we’ve always
shied away a little bit frompolitics and elected office.
This American Renewal Projectreally opened my eyes to the
(03:48):
Black Robe Brigade, even goingback to the Revolutionary War,
where pastors and preachers werepreaching the Gospel. The
Gospel, throughout the Bible,addresses issues, and Jesus
talks about issues. The world isgrappling with these important
issues that will shape the nextgeneration.
(04:11):
social justice, racial justice,the advancement of the LGBTQ
agenda, and the right for womento choose, which relates to
abortion. If we don’t engage inthis, our kids will be taught a
worldview that’s antithetical towhat we believe. It’s not
biblical; it’s not a theologicalworldview. It’s a secular,
(04:35):
humanistic worldview.
Honestly, what made me engagewith my local school board— I
ran for office, didn’t win, andthen some of the ladies in our
community came to me and asked,“Have you seen the books they
have in the library at thepublic schools?” I didn’t
(04:57):
believe it at first. I didn’tknow what was in there, and they
And the funny thing is, my wifewas actually gone for a few
Richard Hardy (04:59):
And let me put a time out in here, too. For
weeks. You know, we have a childwho’s on a cancer journey, and
perspective, for pastors allover the country and around the
she was in Memphis at St. Jude’swith him. So I was at home with
(05:19):
world who are listening to this,Alex is in southwest Missouri,
two of my younger kids. Mycollege-age son was back home
gave me some examples of them.
from school, and he saw thesebooks on the counter. He flipped
in the Springfield area. Manycommunities like to say they’re
(05:39):
through them one day and said,“Dad, what are you looking at?
in the Bible Belt, and some evenclaim to be the buckle of the
Does Mom know you’re looking atthis stuff?” And I was like,
Bible Belt because there are somany Christians there. That’s
“Dude, these are from theschool.” And he said, “No way,
(06:03):
they’re not.”Missouri, the the home of the
Assemblies of God.
where Alex lives. So what hejust described to you is not
happening on the West Coast—nooffense to those who are
Alex Bryant (06:20):
Missouri, the the home of the Assemblies of God.
Richard Hardy (06:27):
And there are, like, three times more Baptists
watching from the West Coast—butyou might expect to see more
liberal influences there. Thisis Springfield, Missouri.
(06:57):
in this community than there areAssemblies of God. So we've got
a big job in front of us, and ISo Alex, that caused you to
Alex Bryant (07:06):
I realized someone had to step up and do something,
realize.
and then, and then it just real.
So if not me, then who? If notnow, then when. And I realized
people are looking for ourparishioners. They're looking
for someone to teach them, tolead them.
I just went to lunch with a manwho's a 23 year Army veteran.
He's raising three boys. One ofthem's off, you know, in the at
(07:29):
West Point right now, and he'slike, man, Alex, I've been
listening to you. I've beenlooking at your podcast. I've
been listening to you on theradio, and you're speaking my
language.
He's like, I'm so he goes, I ama man's man. And that's what he
said. He goes. And I just needsomebody to tell me that it's
okay to step up, to have myvoice be heard. There's people
that want to lead, that need ourexample. And so I just thought,
(07:51):
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 cancerjourney. I got two of them that
are in in college. I got two ofthem that are in the house.
Total of five kids. You know, Ido morning radio three and a
half hours a day. I'm an adjunctprofessor Evangel.
I have my own ministry where I'mtraveling 2530 weeks out of the
(08:12):
year. I'm too busy for this. Butthis is important. I mean, these
are our kids that's in theschool districts, and we have to
step up and speak up for ourvalue. We have to use our
influence to be salt and light.
That's the whole reason why I'mdoing it, and that's why I think
it's important for all pastorsto step in and engage. We're the
influencers in our community,and people want to hear our
voice.
Richard Hardy (08:33):
You know, one of the things I’ve mentioned to
pastors and others that I’veencouraged to consider is
serving on school boards. Now,we’re focusing on school boards
because this is very relevantfor Alex, and it’s something
I’ve done as well, but it’s thesame principle for city councils
and county commissions. It’s allabout being present and involved
(08:54):
in our communities.
But when people say to me, “I’mnot qualified,” I tell them to
step back for a second. If thereare—how many school board
members do you have, Alex?
Seven? Yes, seven. Okay, sevenschool board members. Alex is
sitting in one of those spots.
(09:14):
That means someone with apotentially harmful or misguided
worldview, who might want tonegatively impact your children,
is not sitting in one of thosespots.
Alex Bryant (09:26):
I want to say, they come in with an agenda. That’s
who I ran against—someone whohad an agenda to push the LGBTQ
agenda in our community. Andpeople were like, “Alex, we need
you.” I didn’t know what to do.
I went to the library andchecked out a book on how to run
for office. And then I talked toyou, Dick. I was like, “Dick, I
need you. What do I do? What amI going to do?” And so, yeah, I
(09:47):
mean, we learn on the fly, butwe have to do it.
Richard Hardy (09:55):
Remember, in Johnston, when I was there,
another gal from our church andI—at the time, I was a staff
pastor at First Assembly—we ranfor the school board. There were
three seats open, and one of theincumbents got back in, plus
Becky and me. So immediately,two out of the seven board
(10:15):
members were now Christfollowers, and that school
district was growing rapidly. Wewere originally five board
members, then expanded to seven.
We took the two new seats, and acouple of years later, a guy
named Robert ran, so now we hadthree people—happening to be
three people from the samechurch. It doesn’t have to be
that way. The point is, therewere three people with a
(10:36):
Christ-centered worldview. Amen.
That’s what we want toencourage.
Alex and I want to encourage youto think about that for your
city council, your countycommission, your school board.
If you’re there, that meanssomebody else is not there. Even
if you don’t feel highlyqualified, your presence, with
(11:01):
the Spirit of the Lord, emanatesfrom you.
Alex Bryant (11:04):
And you’re speaking for your flock. They want
someone to speak for them. AndI’ll say this too, Dick—you’re
going to inspire other people.
I’ve already seen that happen.
I’ve only been on the schoolboard for a little over a year,
and there are other people inour community who are saying,
“Okay, hey, I’m going to runnext time,” or “I want to run.”
So, you’re inspiring people.
And, you know, for those pastorswho are like, “Hey, I want to
(11:24):
stay away from politics,” theschool board is nonpartisan. You
don’t declare Republican orDemocrat. It’s nonpartisan.
You’re running for values, forconservative Christian values.
Now, I think you should alsoconsider running for other
seats—city council, like yousaid, county commissioner—all
those seats, even if they seemintimidating.
Richard Hardy (11:44):
They’re nonpartisan. Most of the time,
it’s just you against anothercandidate. Let me tell you, and
Alex and I didn’t discuss thisahead of time, so I hope it
matches up. The overwhelmingmajority of the stuff you’re
going to deal with on the schoolboard is very mundane, very
routine. You’ll be votingoverwhelmingly, seven to zero,
(12:08):
on things. You know, the stuffthat makes it into the newspaper
or TV is usually some wild,crazy incident, right?
But let me give you an examplefrom my experience. That book
you were talking about—we had abook turned in by a kindergarten
parent. It looked colorful, butwhen you really looked at it, it
(12:30):
just felt dark. It was turned into the curriculum director, who
was a Baptist gal. The schoolsuperintendent we had was an
Evangelical Free man, and I’mAssemblies of God. The three of
(12:53):
us were sitting in thecurriculum director’s office.
That book came to us—not in aschool board meeting, just the
three of us discussing it—andthat book was gone. Why? Because
three good people were making agood decision for
kindergarteners in our schooldistrict.
(13:15):
And that’s what you get to do.
You get to have influence thatway.
Alex Bryant (13:19):
The reality is this
defense against policies comingfrom Washington that don’t align
with our conservative Christianworldview. You look at it
now—this particularadministration is trying to use
our funds, even for things likelunch reimbursements for
(13:43):
students, to enforce certainlanguage use, pronouns, and
policies related to transathletes in women’s sports.
These are issues that are on thehorizon, and our parishioners
and community members needpeople who are going to stand
up, know what the Bible has tosay, understand it, and then
lead with love, grace, andboldness.
(14:05):
We need to say, “Listen, adultscan do what they want, but we
have to protect our children.”That’s what it’s about:
protecting our children. I havethree kids still in the school
district, and some of you maysay, “Well, my kids are already
out.” But you’ve got grandkids,and you have parishioners with
kids in the school districts. Wehave to know what’s going on. We
(14:26):
are already respected in ourcommunities, we already have a
level of name recognition, andit’s easier for us to do this.
It doesn’t cost a lot. We justhave to be willing to step up
and serve.
Richard Hardy (14:35):
that's good.
That's good. Alex.
This has been absolutely greatcontent. I really appreciate you
taking the time to talk to ourpastors. You know, as a parting
thought, if these guys and galsdon’t remember anything else you
said, what is the one thing youwant 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 wasmy eye-opener to the fact that,
as pastors, yes, we have topreach the Gospel, but a part of
the Gospel is leading people inthese theological issues that
they’re grappling with insociety, which have been
relegated to the politicalarena. We have to step in,
(15:18):
engage, and take those back—toteach people what a true
biblical, theological worldviewis on these issues. That’s where
we’re needed.
Richard Hardy (15:26):
So good, Alex.
Thank you. A couple side notes Iwant 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. Iknow Alex. He's a godly man, and
just absolutely great content.
And so you can get that on
Amazon, or his w (15:58):
alexbryant.org alexbryant.org is the website. I
would encourage you, if you haveany questions for Alex, just go
to alexbryant.org, and he’ll beglad to answer anything he can.
(16:20):
Alex is also a pastor andcommunicator, and if you’d like
to talk with him about comingand speaking at your church,
he’s available. Again, you cancontact him through
alexbryant.org, and he’ll beglad to provide you with all the
details on how that works. AndI’ve heard him speak, and let me
(16:40):
tell you, you will not bedisappointed.
I learned from you Richard!Oh, man, you’ve gone way beyond
that. So, friends, thank youvery much for taking the time.
Alex, thank you for being withus. It’s been great to just
share, and I’m excited to thinkabout what the future holds. In
fact, Alex, I didn’t give you aheads-up on this, but I know
(17:02):
you’ll do it. I’d like to askyou to pray for the pastors who
are watching this, that theywould allow the Holy Spirit to
move in their hearts and get
Alex Bryant (17:10):
Lord, we just thank You so much for each and every
involved.
pastor who is listening to this,who is watching this. Lord, I
just pray that You begin tospeak to their hearts and minds
right now. Lord God, ignitewithin them a holy indignation
to realize that there is abattle, the lines have been
drawn, and You have called usand ordained us to be the
(17:33):
shepherds of the flock. God,it’s time to protect, to lead,
and to guide our flock.
I pray, Lord, no condemnation,no guilt on any pastor watching
this. But God, I pray that Youare stirring something up in
their hearts and giving them thedesire to step in, to step up,
and to lead in our communities,Lord God—in our cities, in our
(17:54):
state, and even in our nation.
Lord, we just pray that theyhave the Spirit of the Lord upon
them, that they have the wisdomof the Word, and that the Holy
Spirit is leading and guidingthem. There are no better
leaders that You can call tothese elected offices.
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.
Richard Hardy (18:13):
Amen, amen. What a way to end the podcast. Again,
friends, thanks for taking thetime 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 ministryrises and falls on your
leadership. So investing in yourleadership is essential to
staying healthy and growing theministry, and that's why I want
to invite you to join us insidethe leaders dot church
membership, this onlinestreaming service for pastors
gives you access to more than300 videos plus training
material to level up yourleadership and improve your
ministry skills. If you'd liketo do that, I want to invite you
(18:44):
to go to Leaders.Church/boost t.
Again, that'sLeaders.Church/Boost. Well,
thanks again for joining us onthe church tips podcast. We'll
look forward to seeing you nexttime
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