Election Reminders

2 Timothy 2:1–13 ESV

1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

Introduction

How many of us have viewed elections as something that was already determined in God’s eyes, and may have even said that the Lord will take care of us, it’s all in His will anyways. But, how many of us have actually taken the time to think, He uses US to accomplish His will! We may have adopted the attitude that our vote really doesn’t matter, that all politicians are corrupt and will say/do anything to get elected and get what they want accomplished. While I will not argue that there is a sense of corruption and a lack of morals in politics today, that is the exact reason why we, as Christians, should be more convinced of the need to cast our vote. Now, don’t misunderstand me here, there is no political party that will automatically make things better. It is our duty as Americans, but more importantly as Christians, to learn about the candidates and see which ones values line up with the teachings of Christ. And, while we may be staunch Republicans or Democrats, neither of those two parties seem to be doing a good job of protecting the rights of the Christian and keeping them first in their hearts and minds.

How many times have we seen the Christian faith being openly and blatantly attacked by outside interest groups with extreme liberal leanings, only to hear someone say “Well, it’s in the Lord’s hands”. Maybe so, but we need to do our jobs of better protecting ourselves. If we think back at the times where Jesus was challenged by the Pharisees, at no time did He concede to them. He always spoke the truth, through love, each time. However, if we choose to stay home on election day, then we concede. We give in to everyone else who are vocal and will vote with their warped sense of reality. Folks, I looked up some statistics that were staggering. According to My Faith Votes website, there are approximately 90 million Christians eligible to vote in the United States. 15 million of those are not even registered to vote, and approximately 40 millions do not vote in Presidential Elections. That means only 39 percent of professing Christians actually see the seriousness and take the time and see the importance of voting for Christian morals and values.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is no man or woman, regardless of the position or political office they hold that will ever be worthy of praise, and can not get us into heaven. But by using our God given right to vote our Christian morals and ethics, we can keep from having too much hell on earth. Think of it this way. If we have a bag of trash, and we know we have scraps that are in there, do we take the trash out to the dumpster? If we don’t, what happens? It starts to stink! If we continue to ignore it, it will only stink more. It doesn’t matter how much we ignore it, the smell will still be there, and it will only get worse. We can never expect the stench of dirty politics to ever go away by simply ignoring it. And what if it were our votes that would have made the difference? What if it would have made the difference between having a politician that supports our morals and values in office versus someone trying to take them away?

Yet, we sit idly by, waiting for God’s will to be done. And, the liberals continue to rally against Christianity, our morals and values, they continue to seek support for the legal murder of the unborn, the newly born, and even the elderly. And we sit idly by, waiting for God’s will to be done. They seek to make illegal and immoral actions legal according to the law of the land. And we sit idly by, waiting for God’s will to be done. We listen to the attacks on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and we sit idly by, waiting for God’s will to be done. Church, it is time we realize, God’s will can only be done if God’s people are willing to get up, get out, and go vote according to God’s convictions on our hearts.

Why am I even speaking about this? Because we, as Christians, have forgotten the God requires us to follow Him. If we follow Him, we can find strength, and through His strength, we can change the direction of our nation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ had BETTER be how we choose our next politicians, before our politicians forget about Jesus Christ.

Finding Strength in Christ

2 Timothy 2:1–4 ESV

1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

We are not defeated, so why do we approach voting and politics as though we are already defeated? Paul tells us in these verses that we can find strength, and that the source of our strength is in Jesus Christ. While we may feel as though things are rough now, remember Paul is facing death, soon to be executed by the Romans. Knowing this is about to occur, Paul is still lifting up and encouraging Timothy the whole time.

What if I were tell you God does not choose sides? After the death of the great leader Moses, Joshua was commissioned to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land. Even as he tries to prepare them, tries to guide them, tries to lead them, they continued in disobedience to God. As they were near Jericho, Joshua saw something.

Joshua 5:13–15 ESV

13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” 14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

We do not serve a person or their position, but God. God does not choose a political party, He chooses the path of His people. Now, it is up to us to decide whether we will follow Him. We may find ourselves with the same stress as Timothy and as Joshua. Maybe this is why we feel so defeated when it comes to politics. But let s look at what Paul says to do when the pressure of life gets hard. We are to find our unlimited strength from God. While we can not do things on our own, God’s strength is sufficient. But for God’s strength to be sufficient, we must be willing, able, and determined to follow God regardless of where we are in life. If God can give us the strength to overcome death, then He surely will give us the strength to overcome an election.

Paul speaks of our suffering as a soldier. A soldier takes orders, and follows those orders without question or delay. We cannot allow politics or candidates to make us waiver from what God says is morally and ethically true. We cannot allow ourselves to get tangled up in everything of this world, but must focus on what God’s commands for us is - so that we, too, are living examples of Christ’s truth and can reach a dying world with the Gospel. But it takes commitment, it takes focus, it takes commitment, and as momma used to say, sometimes it even takes biting your tongue until it bleeds.

No Pain, No Gain

2 Timothy 2:5–7 ESV

5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

Why is it important for us to look at each candidate, their platform, and what their previous records are? Because, like an athlete, there should be no crown - no reward - for those who do not earn the prize. I have often heard we need term limits. Well folks, we already have them. Every election year we have the opportunity to weigh them in the scales and see whether they are fit to keep their position. Some may be able to hear well done thy good and faithful servant. Most should hear the word Belshazzar saw as the hand wrote on the wall. “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin”. God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanted, and your kingdom shall be given to others more deserving (my interpretation)! We, too, should see what our labors have gotten us. Like the farmer that works his fingers to the bone, they should be the first one to receive the benefits. Why is it that it seems today the ones that are receiving benefits are those who do nothing in order to receive them?

2 Thessalonians 3:10 ESV

10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

Now, notice the key words here - not willing to work.

Psalm 82:3–4 ESV

3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Yet, we are allowing those that do not work, that receive the reward of OUR work to vote, puts those in office who allows this to occur and perpetuates the problem, and never breaks the cycle.

Proverbs 4:7 ESV

7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

We must get some wisdom and insight. We cannot afford to not have our voices, as Christians, heard. And even though it seems impossible, we must never give up.

Never Give Up

2 Timothy 2:8–13 ESV

8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

Rather than engage in the political process, Christians have a duty to elevate it. Like any other sin, we are called to stand above the partisan dissension and demonstrate a better way. Should we have an opinion? Yes. Should we care about our country? Yes. Should we vote? Yes. But it’s time we talk politics in a way that models the teachings of Jesus rather than mocks them.

Don’t forget, both Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Greens, and Constitutional party members attend church. We are not out to get “them”, and it’s not “them against us”. We will never be able to change opinions by arguing. Shouting at each other over out differences of political opinions will not change the other person. However, if we were to take each others opinion to heart, and discuss where those positions line up with scripture, and do so through the love of the Lord, could we change hearts and minds? We should never base our opinion on any news stations opinion or reporting. In the end, they’re always looking for ratings - regardless of how conservative or liberal they are. All political parties are made up of humans, who are errant and flawed. None of them are perfect, nor will they ever be. Regardless of who is elected, we are to still give them the respect due to the position. We are to lift them up to God for His wisdom and will be done, because God already knows the outcome fo the election. He already knows which candidate will occupy the seats of power, He is the one that has appointed them and their time of power. It is our responsibility to obey God’s decision and support His appointee.

Romans 13:1–7 ESV

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

We should simply look at the ballot from this standpoint, how would Jesus approach feel about the candidates, and who would Jesus vote for?

Closing

In the end, it’s not as much voting for what is the very best. To be honest, there are few candidates that would make us all take a sigh of relief. However, we must become informed and knowledgeable of the platforms each candidate supports, and we must vote for the one that more closely aligns with God’s views. And, when all else fails, remember its not what we are voting for as much as what we might be voting against. God’s will can and will certainly be carried out, for His glory and His purpose, but we can no longer sit idle and think that God is not calling us to action. We should find strength in the Lord, and a desire to cast our ballots so God’s voice can be heard. We must remember the political process is no longer an option, but it is critical for Christians to take back the country and its morals and values. It will be hard work, but where there is no pain, there is no gain. But most importantly, even when it appears that our votes don’t count and we are frustrated with what we see on the television, we can never give up. We are told the Lord will fight our battles, but that means we have to be willing to first go to war. We are fighting a war to preserveChristian morals and values, to take back the country and return it to the God fearing place our forefathers intended it to be, and we must take a stand for God. Join me, as I intend to vote for the candidates that (while not perfect in any way) most closely align with the Christian values we so desperately need back in our political offices.