Should A Christian Vote

Should A Christian Vote?

Text: Ezekiel 2:1-5

Thesis: To show that Christians should use their right to vote in order to influence our government.

Introduction:

  1. In 1997 a brawl broke out during the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.  Barry

        Beck of the New York Rangers was asked who started the fight.  He replied: “We have only

        one person to blame, and that's each other.”  (Leadership, Winter 1998)

  2. Christians often comment on the declining moral standards of our country.  But who is to

        blame?  There’s only one person - each other!

  3. A national election looms before us; a President will be elected, as well as 33 U.S. Senators,

        435 U.S. Congressmen, and leaders on many other levels.  Many Christians, however, will

        be merely bystanders, refusing or neglecting to take part in the process.  Is this right?  Is

        this the way God wants us to be?  Or is God even interested in politics?

Discussion:

I.       Do We Have A Responsibility?

A.    Did Moses have a God-given responsibility?

1.      Ex. 4:13 - Moses balked at the calling of God from the burning bush.  He finally admitted he just didn’t want to go to Pharaoh to seek release of God’s people.

2.      Ex. 4:14-16 - God pointed to Aaron and said that Moses could use him as his spokesman.  But Moses had the responsibility to put the words into Aaron’s mouth.  “You shall be to him as God”, the Lord said.  Without Moses’ input, how would Aaron know the right things to do?

3.      Ex. 4:17 - Furthermore, God told Moses to be sure to take his rod with him.  Why?

4.      Ex. 4:1,2 - Even though Moses felt inadequate for the task God had given him, God pointed to the one thing in his hand - a rod - and empowered that for the work.

5.      God gave Moses a spokesman and He gave him a rod.  Would Moses have been wrong to not use what God had given him?  Obviously, yes!

B.     Do we have a God-given responsibility?

1.      When I was young, someone told me the definition of responsibility: “Ability plus opportunity equals responsibility”.  If we have the ability to influence those who serve in positions of government; and if we have an opportunity to use this influence; we then have the responsibility to do what we can.

2.      Ezek. 33:7 - God made Ezekiel a watchman.  His job was to warn the people of doom to come if they continued to ignore God’s warnings.

3.      Ezek. 2:5 - Ezekiel’s work was not dependent on whether or not he would be effective.  In good conditions or bad, the prophet was to speak out.  In doing so, the people would know there had been a prophet among them.

4.      Mat. 5:13-16 - In the same way, Christians are to be salt and light to the communities in which they live.  It doesn’t take much salt to make a difference; nor does it take a blinding spotlight to attract people’s attention in a dark room.  We can have an influence if we wish.

C.     Why is this an important consideration?

1.      Dr. James Dobson: “. . . half the Christians in America aren't even registered to vote, and of those who are, only half go to the polls. America is not ruled by a dictatorship; it is blessed to have a representative form of government that Abraham Lincoln described as being "of the people, by the people, and for the people." The Constitution declares that you and I are the government. When we withhold our influence and participation, we yield by default to those who promote immoral and destructive policies. We owe it to our children and to future generations to defend the principles in which we believe -- the glorious freedom bought with the blood of so many brave young men and women. Shame on us for failing to do our duty to God and country.”  (www.Family.org)

2.      Stephen W. Comiskey: “You can delegate authority, but not responsibility.” (www.agoodlawyer.com), Readers' Digest, 3/97

I.       Do We Have A Need?

A.    Sometimes responsibilities are made even more urgent by pressing needs.  My responsibility as a father is even greater when one of my children is going through a difficult time.  Our responsibilities to be salt and light are more pressing than ever because of the increasing secularism of our nation.  Issues like stem cell research, abortion, homosexual marriage, environmental issues and war are all issues which need a Christian viewpoint.  But who will speak these views?

B.     When God’s people are silent:

1.      Judges 2:10 - All will agree that it was tragic that a generation arose in Israel that did not know God.  How did it happen?  Was it not because too many were silent?

2.      Prov. 2:13 - Those who stop their ears to the cries of the poor will themselves not be heard when their needs arise!  God is not pleased when we do nothing to help a bad situation.

3.      Amos 6:3-6 - What was God’s attitude toward those who lived in luxury while poverty, oppression and injustice raged outside?  Clearly, they were wrong for doing nothing in the presence of such great needs.

4.      Jas. 4:17 - When we know good that we are capable of doing, and choose not to do it, we have become part of the problem.

5.      Stanislaw J. Lee: “Each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty.”  (RD, 2/95)

C.     100 years ago Mark Twain was quoted in Collier’s magazine: “"It will be conceded that a Christian's first duty is to God. It then follows, as a matter of course, that it is his duty to carry his Christian code of morals to the polls and vote them. Whenever he shall do that, he will not find himself voting for an unclean man, a dishonest man. If Christians would vote their duty to God at the polls, they would carry every election, and do it with ease. Their prodigious power would be quickly realized and recognized, and afterward there would be no unclean candidates upon any ticket, and graft would cease. If the Christians of America could be persuaded to vote God and a clean ticket, it would bring about a moral revolution that would be incalculably beneficent. It would save the country." (Colliers magazine, September 2, 1904)

Conclusion:

  1. 1 Tim. 2:1-3 - Even before we go out to vote, we can begin working to improve our country.

       We can pray for those who serve in government positions.  This is God’s will that we do so.

  2. Karl Barth: "To clasp hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of                     the world."  (quoted in The Other Side, March/April 1999)

  3. What needs most to happen is for Christians to care about the needs around us, and to

       realize that they can be part of the solution.  But where apathy among God’s people reigns,

       matters will only grow worse.  A nation will arise after us who will not know God.  And no one

       will ever say again, “Here is a Christian nation.”