Josh McPherson Welcomed 12th District Representative Keith Goehner to Grace City Church in Fall 2020
And asked the question 'Is it ever right for a Christian to disobey the law?' in his sermon
On Nov. 29, 2020 Grace City Church church planter and head pastor Josh McPherson preached a sermon titled “The Crisis of Courage” in which he asked and answered the question “Is it ever right for a Christian to disobey the law?”
After McPherson preached on the topic he was joined by Washington State’s 12th District Representative Keith Goehner for an onstage interview to discuss why Christians should seek elected office.
McPherson began his sermon by complaining about state mandates enacted to protect public health during the state of emergency.
“We’re in week two now of being told we’re not allowed to sing in church by our governor,” he said. “Right now in Washington state it’s legal for me tomorrow – I could go and marry a dude while smoking a joint while gambling in a casino with hundreds of people on my way out to burn down a police precinct while rioting in the streets and squatting in public areas, indefinitely, destroying private property and end the day by taking my girlfriend to go kill our baby because it might intervene, interfere with, you know, the career aspirations of my girlfriend, K?,” he said. “And all that would be heralded as patriotism by certain people in power in our state but it’s illegal for you to sing amazing grace on Sunday morning!”
Sounds like a busy day.
Let’s skip past the hyperbole and interesting Freudian implications of McPherson’s fantasy relationships in that analogy and jump to about an hour in, when he brings out State Representative Keith Goehner for an interview.
“What’s hit me about Daniel is how politically involved he was, and yet how faithful he was to God,” McPherson said. “And I think there’s been this dichotomy sometimes that gets created by the church and Christians that say, ‘Well you can’t be a Christian and be involved in politics and (sic) it gets kind of complicated and messy and rightwing and leftwing, you know, where does it land and all this kind of stuff… And I think the example of Daniel is just the opposite. That, that he, that it was because of his love for God, his faithfulness to God, that he chose to be very actively involved in a very atheistic and antagonistic culture, worldview, government, and he did it well.”
He went on to say that one of his hopes for that series of videos and sermons was that many people in that room might be prompted to go politics.
After a bit of exposition on Goehner’s background and roots in the community, McPherson asks how he got into politics and why he decided to run for Chelan County Commissioner.
“There was a point in time when I didn’t feel like what I saw happening at the county level was, that my interests as a grower, just as principals that I feel strongly about, were being represented by the candidates so I decided that I needed to run,” Goehner said.
To his credit, Goehner made sure to interject and say that when you’re an elected public servant it’s not about you, it’s about the people you serve. He also said that people need to be very serious if they intend to run for elected office because it’s a lot of work and a big responsibility.
McPherson then asked about what it’s like being a Christian politician in an “antagonistic” world toward that religion. It should be noted that Christianity is the most prevalent religion in the United States. Estimates suggest that between 65% to 75% of the US population is Christian, which is about 230 to 250 million Americans, according to Wikipedia.
“You want to resist some of the new laws, as you mentioned earlier today,” Goehner said. “Just the legislation and the way that it’s gone as far as righteousness. If there’s not an understanding of what righteousness is, you can’t make good laws.”
He went on to say it’s difficult to explain to people why they can’t support the new laws “because they’re not affirming righteousness.” Goehner said that it’s hard to communicate why a law isn’t “righteous” to people who don’t share the same frame or reference, or worldview.
Before the end of the interview, McPherson asked Goehner what was discouraging him at the time.
“What are you seeing that is discouraging you? What are you seeing that are challenges that Christians are going to have to face in the coming days and weeks?”
Goehner replied that the system we have is structurally sound at the federal and state level.
“But it’s only as good as the integrity of the people who are embracing it,” he said. “Or who are given the authority to enforce it. If the integrity of those who are in office today, they don’t understand or they don’t come to, you know, in this case proclamations or whatever, with an understanding of the real integrity that the kinds of issues, the principles that we really want to see and have seen in the past, if it’s not there then your society is going to drift and we’re going to, you know, slowly continue down a, you know, really negative path.”
He went on to say what he finds encouraging is the “tremendous number of good solid Christians” in the state legislature.
“We may be in a minority,” he said. “But, you know, you and God constitutes a majority.”
You can watch the full interview and McPherson’s sermon here.
The last thing to note is Goehner’s connection to Bethesda Christian Center, the Wenatchee Valley’s last newsworthy “indie” church that imploded after financial malfeasance including a diamond importing scam, check kiting and embezzlement.
According to an ex-Bethesda member named Todd Wilhelm, who writes a blog titled “Wenatchee the Hatchet,” Goehner “lost his shirt” to Bethesda and was “one of the only people to get his money back” around the time that head pastor Larry Titus skipped town.
It’s just one more tie between Bethesda and GCC and I’m interested in learning more about it.
And since we’re on the topic of Bethesda, I have not forgotten about it. I’ve actually been busy poring over binders full of old newspaper clippings about the Bethesda story and trial that made national news.
A local woman whose mother was one of the jurors in the Bethesda trial compiled the clips and provided them to me when she read what I’ve been writing. Not a lot can be found about Larry Titus and Bethesda Christian Center online, so the clips have been invaluable in my research. They have also helped me make more connections between Bethesda and GCC, since the two organizations have some overlapping membership.
More on that in the future.
Curious. Is Mr Goehner a member of GCC? Did he get a copy of this report? I have kniwn Keith for very long time. I was an admin for Chelan County when Keith was a commissioner. I always found him to be gracious, a very good listener, a definite public servant. Never did I have the impression that he pushed his religious beliefs. He seemed quite capable of maintaining neutrality...keeping his personal beliefs out of politics. I would be very saddened if that has changed or I was wrong. What disturbs me most is a church's attempts to influence politics in nefarious ways. I sincerely hope neither Keith nor any local govts would allow this kind of activity.
"He went on to say what he finds encouraging is the “tremendous number of good solid Christians” in the state legislature."
As if he really knows a person's private life.