Thank you for this very balanced overview of the tightrope we must walk as pastors. I would caution, however, that by initially identifying that a majority of LCMS pastors are Republican, the implication is still there that this is the preferred, or sanctified party. For one, I do not know that a survey of Wisconsin pastors would necessarily reflect the make-up of pastors in other regions. I find myself encouraged by the use of felicitious inconsistency since wanting to remain conservative on issues like abortion often comes at odds with wanting to have a generous government towards those who are under-served. Finally, I commend Max Lucado for recently writing about the lack of decency in the purportedly Christian GOP front runner.