Vote for Jesus - A Biblical Voting Guide
Notes
Transcript
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Handout
Vote for Jesus-A Biblical Voting Guide
Introduction
Good Morning! I have been praying over this message all week as I prepared it, one, for it to be God’s word that is preached, without adding any political views of my own, and two, for it to be received as a non-political message on our Constitutional right to vote. We’re two weeks from an election, and I realize some of us have already voted, and I eaven realize we are not all going to come to the same conclusion - and that’s ok.
If you drive down the street, you see all of the political signs, vote for so and so to be the such and such. If you watch the news, you see it in the news every day. If you watch television at all, you have seen all of the campaign ads, good and bad. If you use any social media, you already know our nation is drastically divided on the issues at this point in our country, and yes, I believe that social media is the contributing factor to the division.
So why a message on voting? After all, we have the constitution to protect our rights, this is America! I’m sure that is what every nation has said - all the way up until that nation fell. Also the Constitution is not the Bible - and the Bible doesn’t say that we will have religious freedom, the right to bear arms, free speech, etc, but it does tell us to cooperate with the government officials so long as the government isn’t pursuing unrighteous behaviors -
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.
The Bible also tells us that we who are in Christ will be persecuted -
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Fortunately here in the good ol’ US of A, we have those freedoms from that kind of persecution - But that could change at any time. Also Fortunately we have a say in who our governing authorities are, but we have to execute that Constitutional right in light of a biblical worldview - and the world is constantly seeking to cloud that view with worldly desires of money, status, and behaviors that are not compatible with our biblical truths.
In our democratic republic citizens have a direct function in government and therefore responsibilities and privileges. We have a responsibility to help select our representatives and the privilege of addressing them and petitioning the government with our concerns . How then do these Biblical principles apply when we consider who to vote for and the issues that should be of the most concern to us?
Priorities: Over the last 32 years, economic issues have dominated the political landscape. But to us as Christians, they should not be our primary concern. While there are many Biblical principles to guide economic systems, we must determine our priorities by issues on which the Bible gives clear commands.
“Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
We see here to give the government the things that the government has been given authority to receive and execute, and to give God those things that God is most concerned about and has not given the government the authority to receive or dictate.
Our top priorities are the moral issues since government has a twofold purpose of promoting what is good and punishing those who do evil. And we must remember that it is God, not society or man that determines what is good or evil. And if we are reading His word and seeking active discipleship, we clearly see the heart of God and should be seeking to glorify Him in our Constitutional rights as well.
Responsibilities: While God has sovereignly set the individual in office, either as a blessing or a curse, our responsibility in a democratic republic is two fold. First, because the government representatives are chosen by us we must be serious about voting and then vote for the man or woman that would best reflect the moral desires of God in their office. Second, we must stand in opposition to those who are in office who choose to align themselves in opposition to God’s word.
As citizens of a democratic republic we have a biblical responsibility to choose our government representatives and influence the moral characteristics of our laws and policies. In a real sense, our government and its decisions are reflections of the people and so we as a people bear the responsibility for it. If the government officials are corrupt and evil, they were elected by the people and so the people are getting what they deserve. However, as Christians, we also have the responsibility to see God’s standards upheld and are to work hard to have such evil and corrupt officials replaced by godly ones – perhaps even yourself. The establishment of a godly government is a blessing on all people. Even Proverbs 29:2 tells us,
When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
Some may say “my vote doesn’t matter” or “the right candidate will get into office” or even “meh, it doesn’t matter, it’s a corrupt system”. God ordains governments, as we saw in Romans 13:1. Our government system is one God ordained that allows us to make decisions on who is or is not in our government. Our votes do matter, even if it’s a corrupt system, even if the “right candidate will get into office”, because our God ordained system of government has given us the right to choose godly vs worldly, and part of that choice is having the drive, the passion, the God-fearing motivation to show the world through that process that we care enough about His desires to make and keep our nation from the destruction that comes from not following God’s desires and principles.
Second, we must also stand in opposition to people and policies that are contrary to the clear teachings of God’s word. It is wrong to think God approves of whoever got elected and that we are therefore to submit without opposition. We see Samuel rebuke Saul in
10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.
And Nathan rebuke David in
7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
And John the Baptist rebuke King Herod
18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Yes, we elected them. But that doesn’t mean that they are equal to God, nor does it mean they are perfect, and, no matter if it’s the most moral or the least moral candidate, we still have an obligation to hold them to God’s standards.
Evaluating the Candidates and the Issues
Since our candidates are a mixture of various moral standards, it will be rare to find a candidate that rates well on everything. Realistically our choices will generally be the lesser of 2 or more evils as the saying goes, but there are issues that are downright evil that must to be opposed. Let me quickly go over some of the major issues and give you some questions that should be in your mind as you evaluate the issues and any candidate for any office.
1) Life:
The first moral priority is human life. God is the creator of life and all human life is made in His image, so all human life has inherent worth.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God prohibited murder of human life and required capital punishment for those that do
6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
Now this was speaking of those that willingly choose to take another’s life.
The innocent blood of those murdered cried out for justice and that was one reason for the destruction of Judah
3 Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon.
The Bible is also clear that human life begins at conception
13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
and
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
John the Baptist recognized the presence of Jesus and leaped for joy while both were still in their mothers’ wombs
41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
To kill a baby in the womb is to destroy the work of God and attack His image. Abortion is murder and is clearly treated as such by God, yet there are candidates that advocate this as acceptable. We have seen some states that are working diligently to fight for the simple right to survive, and other states that have fought to legalize this murder and attempt to justify it for later and later times in a woman’s pregnancy.
2) Protection:
Protection encompasses both internal and external threats. A police force and local militia protect against local threats while armed forces protect against threats from other nations. While armed forces can be used by evil men for evil purposes, that very fact proves the necessity of having armed forces to protect against those who would do us evil. There are efforts out there to defund police forces and reduce our military forces, yet we know that if we are left to our own devices as humans as we’ve seen countless times in our past. Consider the fact that most of our laws derive from the 10 commandments in our country along with the punishments and the judgement system, and considering that when left to their own decisions the Israelites continuously did what was evil, we already know what happens without a protection force in place. As with any other group of people, there are bad police and there are bad military personnel, as they come from the same sinful population as we do, but that doesn’t mean that they are all or even mostly bad. Godly protection is evident throughout the Word, but perhaps the clearest representation is found in
7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. 8 And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. 9 And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.
We must have protective measures in place to prevent war, as well as civil unrest.
3) Justice:
Government has the responsibility to establish and execute justice, and the amount government moves away from God’s standards of justice is the degree to which it is failing. Our government is failing in many ways to carry out justice due to corruption where laws are ignored or changed to benefit the politically favored group. We have judges that rule based on what they would like it to be rather than what the law actually states.
19 You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.
This also means that “social justice” is not Biblical justice whenever it is an effort to bring about an equality of an outcome. God has not gifted all people equally so equality of outcome is impossible without forcibly taking from some to give to others. The word for that is stealing. True social justice is an equality of opportunity or fairness in the application of the law – not an equality of outcome.
Justice must also be carried out with the right attitude.
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
This statement encompasses what you do, what you desire and what you are. It is humility in walking with God that brings about the proper kindness and mercy that temper justice. We are to be merciful because we have received mercy from God
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
However, mercy without justice is injustice and an abandonment of the protective role of government.
4) Morality:
20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
Tragically, there are now many in our society that do just that. God clearly describes what is good and what is evil in the Bible. There are some things that are especially evil which should receive a priority in a government’s protective efforts and application of justice. Some of these things reveal an evil character even when the outward presentation looks good.
Leviticus 18 lists immoral sexual practices including homosexuality, incest, fornication, adultery and bestiality alongside child sacrifice as abominations which defiled the land. The penalty for most of them was death. And the Old Testament isn’t the only place where morality is addressed.
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
We’ve already discussed abortion. Many political leaders now advocate sexual immorality and perversions. Adultery destroys the trust that is foundational for marriage and thus destroys families, and both it and fornication spread a host of diseases that can hinder or destroy health and leave women infertile. Bestiality and homosexual practices introduce and spread even more diseases some of which kill. Simple compassion should drive us to stop these practices for the protection of others, however many candidates pride themselves in advocating tolerance and acceptance and equality for these things.
5) Personal Integrity:
Proverbs 6:16-19 is helpful in understanding God’s assessment of people and therefore helpful in evaluating a political candidate’s personal integrity.
16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, 19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
Haughty eyes refer to that condescending look the proud can give because they think they are superior to the everyone else. This is a common attitude among the political elite. Beware of proud and arrogant candidates that think they know what is best for you and want government control over your life.
A lying tongue reveals a dishonest and selfish character striving to do what is best for themselves instead of what is best for others. It seems many politicians strive to make lying an art form, but a person that is characterized by lying cannot be trusted on anything. The Bible gives strong warning against it including that those who practice it will be cast into the lake of fire instead of going to heaven
22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.
8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
All candidates will fail at some point, but more is revealed about their integrity by whether they are honest about it or not than in the particular failure itself.
The individual does not have to be the one who physically sheds innocent blood. Advocating the laws permitting it or being complacent in duties to prevent the shedding of innocent blood makes them equally guilty. Again, what is the candidate’s position on abortion, infanticide and euthanasia as well as their positions on law enforcement, military and justice.
Wicked plans will be revealed by what the candidate advocates. Does the candidate’s vision for the future and goals for the present line up better with what God would want or Satan? Do they promote what is moral and godly and strive to restrict what is evil, or do they call good evil and evil good?
Feet that run to evil describe those that strive to get whatever they can when someone has fallen victim to another. They may join in the evil or just watch it with gladness. They see another person’s downfall as an opportunity for gain for themselves. They broadcast the shame of another instead of trying to correct and heal it. What is the candidate’s response to the evil that befalls others? Intervene? Watch? Join in?
A false witness is worse than the general liar because it makes someone else the victim. It is bad enough to lie about yourself so others will think you are something you are not or can do something you can’t, but it is a lot worse to try to destroy another person with lies. That includes spreading gossip or having others do it for you. This has become common political practice. All those ads that we see on TV or Facebook - do your own fact checking and see where the truth falls.
The final abomination in this list is spreading strife among brothers. Relationships that should be close and harmonious, or at least cooperative, are strained or even destroyed by the actions of an antagonist. They can generate the strife themselves or just take advantage of a what is already present and make it worse through lies, gossip, rumor and innuendo.
When these various abominations are combined, we have the politics of personal destruction. An evil, but effective tactic, used by wicked people to gain political power.
Having solid convictions and firm positions does not mean you have to be stubborn. The truth can and should be spoken in love. Even strong rebukes can be given with a sense of caring. A position can be stated firmly without joining in the rants and rage of the opposition. Is the candidate able to hold firmly to his convictions and still be gracious and have a spirit of cooperation?
Conclusion
There are many other issues Biblical issues, such as stealing and graft, that could also be addressed and should be applied to politics. This was only to prod you to start thinking according to Biblical values and priorities instead of political ones when voting, running for public office or serving in one. Moral character and personal integrity are much more important than any set of proclaimed policies and promises. You will never find a candidate that agrees with you 100% on every issue, but we are to evaluate carefully and make the best vote we can.
As Christians, our first priority is always to please our Lord and trust Him to bring good out of any situation even when they are not to our liking and are antagonistic to His stated moral will
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
While we want our candidate to win and may work hard to achieve that, our primary goal is to please the Lord, not be on the winning side. If running for office, your primary goal is to please the Lord, not win the election. If in public office, your primary goal is to please to the Lord, not win re-election or please the people. Our goal is to one day stand before our Lord and hear Him say to us, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”
At the end of the day, no matter who is elected into our government, our responsibility is still to pray for those that are placed there.
1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
We pray for them to make Godly decisions, to corse correct when they fail, and obey the authority God has given to the government while resisting that authority when it violates God’s Word. I leave you with this -
14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
The altar is open, or you can pray where you are, but now is the time to humble ourselves, pray, and seek Him.
Questions to consider:
What value does the candidate put on human life?
What protections do they advocate to protect human life?
Is the candidate pro-life, indifferent or pro-abortion?
What is the candidate’s position on euthanasia?
Does the candidate understand the protective role of government and advocate law and order?
Does the candidate understand the necessity of military and diplomacy in averting war (Proverbs 20:18; Luke 14:31)?
Does the candidate uphold the rule of law?
Does he advocate interpretation of law according to what is written and original intent?
Is his advocation or opposition to a law based on Biblical standards or something else?
Is the candidate fair in their dealings with both supporters and opponents?
Is the candidate subject to political corruption by influences either in or outside of government?
Does the candidate seek to protect marriage or make it easier to get a divorce?
Do they uphold the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman or advocate redefining it according to the homosexual agenda?
Do they uphold laws against sexual immorality, or do they advocate forcing society to accept as a specially protected class the sexually perverse including homosexuals, cross dressers and trans-gendered?