The second myth is that mega-churches are politically active. In fact, you don't get to be a mega-church if you get involved in other issues. You would find that most of the churches that are politically active tend to be medium- or small-size churches. They are not the largest churches. And because they tend to get caught up in a political agenda, they don't grow to the size of others.

What he said is confirmed by a recent comprehensive study:

The perceived political outlook of the majority of megachurch members is much as the popular media portray it. Over 50% were predominantly conservative, with another 33% somewhat conservative. Only 11% chose "middle of the road," 4% "somewhat liberal" and 2% selected "liberal." However, such conservatism of megachurches is often touted in articles claiming them to be powerful political players. The data from this study does not support that perception of megachurches as highly political. Only 16% of churches claimed they partnered with other churches in political involvement activities in the past 5 years and three quarters of churches (76%) say they have never done this.

Not only are these churches not as committed to a conservative political agenda as we think, but they also seem to be more liberal, inclusive and involved in social jusitice activism than is largely assumed. The study reports:

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed said they were making efforts to become intentionally multi-ethnic. These efforts seemed to be effective since on average 19% of persons in the congregations were of the non-majority racial group. Thirty-six percent of churches reported having a 20% or more minority presence and 10% of congregations claimed to have no majority racial group.

Another claim that is often made against megachurches is that they neglect the needs of their surrounding communities in favor of helping their own membership. While this study did not address this question as extensively as the 1999-2000 study, two questions in the survey challenge that criticism somewhat. Nearly half of megachurch say they partnered with other churches in the past 5 years on a local community service project (54%) or on an international missions project (46%).

Here is another way the study summarizes its findings:

MYTH #5: These large churches only care about themselves and are not seriously involved in outreach and social ministry.

FACT: Considerable ministry is going on at the megachurches from solitary outreach to the local communities, joining with other churches in an area to tackle problems, as well as contributing to efforts nationally (say in New Orleans) and internationally (such as ministry to persons with AIDS in Africa)

MYTH #6: All megachurches are major political players and pawns or powerbrokers to the Republican Party or George Bush.

FACT: A vast majority of megachurches surveyed said they are not politically active. This parallels survey data on smaller churches, most churches have an internalized separation of church and state. A few megachurches and their pastors are vocally politically active but not most, not even a majority.

MYTH #9: All megachurches are homogeneous congregations with little diversity.

FACT: A large and growing number of megachurches are multi-ethnic and are intentionally so. Likewise, many of them have considerable diversity in terms of class, education levels, income, ages, backgrounds, occupations, and even theological and political styles.

At the very least this study suggests that the conservative and Republican hold on these Christians and churches is not as strong as we sometimes imagine.  There are also hopeful signs that Pastors like Rick Warren are beginning to challenge their large audiences to think politically in more progressive ways.