Elections

In just a few days, the states will tally up their election results.

Have you voted?

Because if you haven’t you still have a couple of days to do so.

But what about those who say Christians shouldn’t get involved in politics?

Not even voting.

What does Scripture says about that?

Render Unto Caesar

Recently I preached on the idea of rendering unto God the things that are God’s.

But what do we owe Caesar?

In the United States, all political power is inherent in the people.

What shall we do with that power?

What do we owe the rest of the people, the other Caesar’s?

What about the separation of church and state?

Separation of Church and State

To start with, not only is the phrase “A wall of separation between church and state.” one of the most often misapplied quotes in America, but most people get it backwards.

You see, the phrase “Wall of separation” does not exist in the Constitution.

Sure, the idea is in the Constitution, but not the words.

That phrase comes from a letter Thomas Jefferson sent, replying to a group of Baptists in Danbury Connecticut.

You see, the Danbury Baptists were concerned that, as a religious minority, they would be discriminated against.

But Jefferson assured them that they had nothing to worry about,

That the Constitution erected a wall of separation between church and state.

That the church would be protected from the state, not the other way around.

As John Adams said:

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Without morals and religion, the Constitution fails.

And where are the American people to find their morals and religion if the body of Christ is absent?

Yet we have listened to a few people who told Christians to stay away.

That there are topics we are not allowed to talk about in public.

That we should not teach about Jesus, just as the Sanhedrin told Peter and John:

Acts 4:18–20 NKJV

So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

Instead, when Christians were told to keep their religion out of politics, millions walked away,

Squandering one of the most precious gifts on earth thatGod has given to the people.

Talents

After all, choosing those who represent us a great gift?

Is not the kingdom of heaven like a man taking a trip,

Leaving his goods to his servants?

Are we not the servants of God?

Hasn’t our master gone away for a time?

Matthew 25:14 NKJV

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.

We may talk about wordly goods, but what else has God entrusted to us.

He placed us in a great nation,

And he entrusted to us with a great gift,

Liberty, religious freedom,

And the power to choose our representatives.

While Jesus is away, the governments in American are in our hands.

What are we doing with this great opportunity?

This great trust?

As George Washington said in his farewell address:

“And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”

Christians are part of the American people.

How dare we waste the “talent” God has given us.

Some people are afraid of what might happen if “religious” people get involved,

We should be afraid of what happens when we don’t!

Matthew 25:24–28 NKJV

“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

Have you taken your vote and buried it?

What impact has that had on the world, our nation, even our neighborhood?

Salt and Light

Jesus told us…

Matthew 5:13 NKJV

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

The world needs salt to preserve what is good and slow the decay into evil.

But for salt to preserve, it must be in contact with the item to be preserved.

After all, you don’t salt a steak by leaving the salt in the cupboard.

And we are supposed to be the salt of the earth,

But what good is that salt if it refuses to participate,

If it looses is flavor, the very property that makes it unique?

We should be thrown out and trampled by men.

Sadly, there are many in the church who fit that criteria.

According to an article in The Christian Post,

25 million Christians did not vote in the last presidential election,

65 million do not vote in local elections,

and 15 million aren’t even registered to vote.

What could this nation have looked like if God’s people were salt to it?

If Christians participated in the process,

Bringing Christ and His morals into how we govern?

If Christians refuse to be salty, then we are good only to be tossed out and trampled.

And in many ways, we have.

But we are called to be more than salt.

Matthew 5:14–16 NKJV

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Christians are the light of the world,

But rather than sitting on a hill or a lampstand, where the light of God can be seen,

We have hidden in our pews and churches, spreading our light no further than our own walls.

Light not only allows us to see,

But it is a contrast to darkness.

When Christians enter the voting booth, we have the chance to be both light and salt to this crazy world.

To not only believe in God, but allow Him to guide our choices.

And to hold those who win elections to task when the stray.

Instead, millions of people who claim the name of Jesus hide their light under a basket.

They refused to challenge, or even question, the evil people and proposals being brought forth.

Where have the children of God been as this nation has ceased believing in God?

When the court said you couldn’t pray in school, what did the “church of Christ” do?

When abortion, homosexuality, transgender, and other evil and perverted agendas were brought forth,

Did the church of Christ bring the preserving nature of salt?

Or did we stay home, because we were told we shouldn’t get involved?

And what has been the outcome?

Do you want to know why so many in this nation have embraced evil, perversion, and child sacrifice?

As G.K, Chesterton said:

When people cease to believe in God, they do not then believe in nothing, but in anything.

So in part, the beliefs in the different evils that has swept across this country is because so many of the people stopped believing in God,

And therefore ready to believe anything.

Why should the people believe in God, when those in His church don’t believe Him enough to stand up, even to vote?

Conclusion

God has given the American people a great gift,

One that has been the envy of the entire world.

As the constitutions of Tennessee, and most of our states say,

All power in inherent in the people.

That we consent to government to protect our rights.

Unless of course, you believe in God.

Then, for some strange reason, people say you need to leave your religion outside.

Don’t you dare take it into the voting booth.

You may be accused to attempting to create a theocracy.

But our Master has told us to be salt and light to this earth.

To take what He has given us and use it for His glory.

To render unto Caesar what is his, but never to surrender to him what is God’s.

That means we render unto Caesar our the act of voting,

But God retains the power of who we vote for.

I don’t know about you, but the fact that so many of those who claim to be Christians have abandoned this nation and it’s people to the evils of the world and the devil is a point of great embarrassment to me.

It would be like Peter and John telling the Sanhedrin, “OK, we’ll keep our mouths shut because you say so.”

What has been the fruit of those “Christians” who refuse to bring light to the elections?

Matthew 12:33 NKJV

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.

What does the fruit tell us about the church in America?

Are we afraid of the world,

Hiding out light under a basket,

Or burying out talent because we are afraid to use it?

Have we been “good and faithful servants”?

Or do we right deserve the title of “Wicked and lazy servants”?