This may be the longest blog I have ever posted!. But, I believe that it is important to know what and why we believe what we do! And, our belief system should undergird our voting, NOT the support of a particular political party!
Today I want to address how we should deal with politics and voting as Christians. There are many issues at stake in this midterm election. I really believe that our nation is at a crossroads. And the choices in front of us as Americans are like a fork in the road. As a whole, our nation has chosen to walk away from Biblical precepts, and has sidelined the God of the Bible for the God of our own imagination. The leaders that Americans elect represent the heart of the majority of Americans.
Here are some thoughts about how to find the mind and will of God as you go to the voting booth this year.
First of all, lay aside all Christian speak and labels. Don't look at whether a candidate says he is a Christian,or a Muslim, or a Jew, etc. Look at the facts of what the person actually believes and does, aside from verbiage. We have had candidates in the past who have said they are Christians, but in practical action are far from it!
The Bible is our infallible guide for faith and practice, so we should look at the issues and what the Bible says about them first, then look at what each candidate believes.
So, here are some of the issues at stake in this election in the light of the Bible. First of all, the Bible in general has a lot to say about personal responsibility, diligence, and hard work. No one should be rewarded for laziness, slothfulness, irresponsibility, and waste. Note these scriptures:
Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up? A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber (Proverbs 6:6-11 - NLT).
Lazy people don't even cook the game they catch, but the diligent make use of everything they find (Proverbs 12:27 - NLT).
Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper (Proverbs 13:4 - NLT).
A lazy person's way is blocked with briers, but the path of the upright is an open highway (Proverbs 15:19 -NLT).
Despite their desires, the lazy will come to ruin, for their hands refuse to work. (26) Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give! (Proverbs 21:25-26- NLT).
The Apostle Paul sternly charged the church in Thessalonica to refuse to fellowship with a person who can work and provide for his own, but refuses to do so: And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don't follow the tradition they received from us. (7) For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. (8) We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. (9) We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. (10) Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: "Those unwilling to work will not get to eat." (11) Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people's business. (12) We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15).
On the other hand, we are responsible to help those who, through due to circumstances beyond their control, are unable to provide for themselves and their families. Old Testament Jewish law gave space for the poor to be provided for. God promises us that when we give to the poor, we lend to the Lord, and He will repay us! Again, notice the scriptures:
If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would (Exodus 22:25).
Plant and harvest your crops for six years, but let the land be renewed and lie uncultivated during the seventh year. Then let the poor among you harvest whatever grows on its own. Leave the rest for wild animals to eat. The same applies to your vineyards and olive groves (Exodus 23:10-11-NLT)
But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need (Deuteronomy 15:7-11).
Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin. Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do. There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need (Deuteronomy 15:9-11 -NLT).
If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord— and he will repay you! (Proverbs 19:17-NLT).
Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor (Proverbs 22:9 - NLT).
Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to poverty will be cursed (Proverbs 28:27).
The Bible is clear that life begins in the womb. The Bible guards the sanctity of human life from conception. Jeremiah was known and called by God from his mother’s womb: I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5).
David mentions that God had the days of his life mapped out before he was even born: You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. (Psalm 139:13-16). Therefore, abortion is the murder of innocent life.
The Bible is very clear that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman and this unique relationship is blessed by God . Notice Genesis 2:21-24-NLT: So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. "At last!" the man exclaimed. "This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called 'woman,' because she was taken from 'man.'" This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.
(Genesis 2:24).
It is also very clear that homosexuality and lesbianism are a perversion of God’s plan for human sexuality, and individuals and cultures that promote this sinful lifestyle will inherit judgment unless they repent. Notice Leviticus 18:22-25-NLT: Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin. A man must not defile himself by having sex with an animal. And a woman must not offer herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it. This is a perverse act. Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in all these ways. Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out.
The Apostle Paul clearly addresses homosexuality and lesbianism in Romans 1: 24-28- NLT:
So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.
The Bible views all men as created equal before God : There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
(Galatians 3:28). Every person, regardless of racial or personal distinction, is to have equal rights and status in culture.
The Bible encourages nations to protect their interests through military strength, as Israel did throughout the Old Testament. The Bible acknowledges the sinfulness and depravity of man, and the practical cultivation of national borders to protect inhabitants from the vices of the wicked. One day, when Jesus reigns after His return, we can then turn our swords into plows and will no longer have need of self-protection.
The Bible informs that each nation will be judged in eternity by the respect and care that nation had for the nation of Israel (See Matthew 25).
Israel, being the nation from which came our beloved Messiah, enjoys a special status with God among nations. Any nation that hinders God’s plan for Israel will inherit a curse: I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3-NLT). I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves (Zechariah 12:3- NLT).
These are just a few of the issues we are dealing with as a culture. Perhaps never before have the stakes been so high as they are today. America is at a crossroads. Yes, we are citizens first of the invisible kingdom of heaven as Christians. But, we also have a civic duty to live responsibly in this life, and to represent this invisible kingdom well. Your vote matters.
Ask God for wisdom. He knows what we should do, and will lead us by His Word and by His Spirit. Find out as much as you can about each candidate, and vote for the ones that most closely align themselves with a biblical worldview.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14- NIV).
