To Vote Or Not To Vote

I have been feeling compelled to write this blog post and have been praying about God’s timing.  I decided to wait until both political conventions were completed so that I would have the chance of offending both sides equally!

As a longtime Christian who has voted in a lot of presidential campaigns, I used to think that voting was all about moral issues.  So I voted for candidates whose morals lined up with Biblical values on key issues.  But, slowly during my lifetime, determining the values that candidates hold has become more and more difficult; and voting by this method has become less and less effective.  Because of this, I believe many well-meaning Christians today have become confused – merely drinking the Kool-Aid of a particular party line.

But we are called to be in the world, not of it.  In a post-Christian, post-truth nation (which is what we are, whether we want to believe it or not), Christians need to remember what Jesus did as he also lived in a nation that had lost its way spiritually.  He did not try to change things politically, but chose to work on people’s hearts instead.   

In my lifetime, there has never been an election that has required citizens to engage all of their minds more than the one this year.  So I’d like to throw out some things that God has been laying on my heart over the past few weeks.  I hope that if you are reading this post you will choose to continue and to ask God to show you his will for your vote.

First of all, Jesus set the precedent for what I am asking you to do: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).  And his disciple John said, “. . . do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1).  If we are going to vote, we need to be wise and to be fully informed about the person we’re voting for.  We can never allow emotions to rule our voting decisions.  The candidates know that we have this tendency and design their speeches and ads accordingly.  Don’t be drawn in by emotional appeals!

With that in mind, let’s talk about the current presidential candidates: when did the following values, beliefs, and actions (currently exhibited by one or both of the candidates) become “Christian”?  Social media is flooded with posts trying to tell me how all Christians should vote, but the Bible is pretty clear on all of these things:

1) Pride/arrogance – “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”   Proverbs 16:18

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”            Matthew 20:16

*God does not honor those who exalt themselves.

2) Lying – “The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.” Proverbs 12:22

3) Prejudice/Nationalism – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.  But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” James 2:8-9

*God loves all people equally.  America is not a theocracy, and we are not God’s chosen people.  Americans are not better than others.

4) Anger/Name-calling/Bullying – “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” James 1:19-20

*Every person is made in the image of God; there is no excuse for disrespect of other people.

5) Self-protectionism – “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:10

“Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all . . . never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  Romans 12:17-21

*Christians are not called to protect themselves, but to trust God to protect them.

When I look at the two candidates in light of these things, I do not see a way to choose a “Christian” candidate.  When I look at their experience in governing and their approach to global issues, I could probably choose who to vote for to best aid America’s future as a nation; but I would still be left with problems of conscience when it comes to the things listed above.  Choosing what I consider to be the lesser of two evils (even if I could figure out which one that is) doesn’t seem to be what I think Jesus would do or would call us to do.

So here’s something to think about: in God’s eyes, there is nothing wrong with choosing not to vote in a national election; but there is always something wrong with choosing to side with evil.  I am reminded of what happened when Jesus was on trial before his death.  The crowd of Jewish people, many of whom had listened to Jesus teach and come to him for healing, decided that good standing with Rome and with their neighbors was more important than good standing with God.  They drank the Kool-Aid and joined the crowd mentality, shouting “Crucify him!”  Then they said some of the most profound words in the Bible: “His blood be on us and on our children!” (Matthew 27:25).  And so they spoke prophetic truth.  Their words should be a warning to us.   

In this election, can I encourage you to engage your whole mind and look for God’s will alone?  Do your homework and check out websites like www.factcheck.org to help you make an informed decision.  Bottom line: vote whichever way God leads you, or don’t vote at all.  But please don’t pretend that God is pleased with either candidate and that your vote for one or the other therefore represents God’s interests or is the “Christian” way to vote (as I have been seeing consistently on social media).  It is simply not true in this election.  The arrogance of America and Americans is not pleasing to God: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).       

In God We Trust?

As the national conventions for the two main political parties in America take center stage for the next couple weeks, I’m trying to ignore some of the things I’ve been seeing on social media and things reported by the news media.  That’s because I feel they are more likely to distract me from the things that really matter than to help my walk with God.  But I can’t help but notice a trend that I think indicates where the hearts of many Americans, including many Christians, are: we are trusting ourselves instead of what our national motto says, “In God We Trust”.

Now this isn’t something new.  Ever since Adam and Eve sinned and passed a sin nature on to the rest of mankind, people have struggled to trust God more than they trust themselves.  No one in history was immune from this, and none of us is either.  Built into each of us through sin is the desire to control our own little world, which then transfers to controlling others who don’t accept our sovereignty.  And this is where the root problem shines through: there can only be one sovereign ruler in each of our lives.  God is sovereign (whether we acknowledge it or not), but he will never force us to accept his sovereignty.  If we insist on being on the throne, he will step aside and let us.

But here’s the problem: God’s sovereignty is the basis/framework for all of his other characteristics to operate.  So if we don’t understand and trust God’s sovereignty, we have an unhealthy view of who God really is – and this is obvious in the political arena that we’ve been experiencing.  However, even more important than any country’s politics is how this affects our individual relationships with God.  Without a proper Biblical view of God, we cannot hope to trust his sovereignty as we experience “real life” here on earth.

God intends for us to rest in his sovereignty and trust him to take care of us; but many times we are too busy imposing our expectations on God.  We decide how God’s sovereignty should act instead of trusting that he knows more than us and can see a bigger picture than us when exercising his sovereignty.  I’m not saying it’s always easy to trust God’s sovereignty, but our struggles don’t change who God is.  Accepting and embracing his sovereignty and choosing to truly trust him is the call for every Christian in every situation in life where they find themselves.  Here’s some examples that come from my own experiences or the experiences of people I know:

. . . when your 23-year-old son is in a car accident that leaves him in a wheelchair with a traumatic brain injury for the rest of his life

. . . when you encounter cancer or other life-threatening or life-altering physical diseases

. . . when you spend most of your adult life dealing with chronic depression or other mental disorders

. . . when you encounter severe financial losses

. . . when you face infertility despite your strong desire to become parents

. . . when your healthy teenage son dies in a hiking accident

. . . when your innocent child is abused by someone

. . . when a pastor you trusted abuses his position and hurts people in his congregation

. . . when someone with anti-Biblical values is elected to the highest office of your country and uses that value system to govern

This just scratches the surface of things that we face in this life, but the question of how we will respond is the same for each one.  Will we trust God’s sovereignty when we can’t see anything that makes sense?  Will we trust God’s sovereignty instead of bringing to the table our expectations for his behavior?  The people I know who have answered these questions with a resounding “yes” despite their circumstances are the ones whose joy is complete and who have mastered the art of resting in God’s sovereignty.   

Let’s stop expecting this earth and this country to feel good and right, because we were not made for this world.  We were made for eternity, and only when we get there will everything make sense.  In the meantime, as Christians let’s choose to model a rephrased version of our national motto: in God alone we trust.

Happy Birthday, America!

Today America is 240 years old – a milestone worth celebrating.  But when it comes to other nations and cultures, we are quite young.  Traveling outside of the United States puts some of this in perspective, and I have had the opportunity to see the ruins of cultures in several countries that are hundreds and thousands of years old.  Some failed, and some still exist; but there hasn’t been a perfect society yet.

Yes, our founding fathers had a good idea and went to great lengths to implement that idea in the best way they envisioned.  They didn’t all agree on how to do that, and there were many fights and political moves even in the 1700’s and early 1800’s when our nation was forming.  And I am thankful for the freedoms I enjoy in this country.  But, regardless of their efforts, the sin nature inherited by all humans in the fall that took place in the Garden of Eden was and will always be present until Christ returns and establishes his new heaven and new earth.  Like all human societies that came before us, America is not perfect and never has been.

I have lived through nearly half of the 20^th century and all of the beginning of this century, and a tremendous amount of things have changed in my lifetime.  I remember living near the ocean as a young child and parking on the mesa above the water to watch the 4^th of July professional fireworks.  From my childlike perspective, it was a fun time.  At the risk of sounding old, it really was a more innocent and simpler time in our nation’s history.  Right or wrong, the social mores of my childhood kept some of society’s worst (according to God’s standards) in check and guaranteed that most of its citizens lived a more similar lifestyle than they do today.

But then almost everything changed as we moved through the 1960’s and 1970’s – which opened the door for every person and every group in our country to demand its own rights and endeavor to exercise its own freedom whether at the expense of others or not.  Forty to fifty years later, the worst of society is not only no longer in check, but they are the ones who are actually leading the nation!  Through the past few years, I have found it increasingly difficult to remain patriotic.  I want to celebrate what America used to be; but I cannot fully celebrate what we have now become.

We are a post-Christian nation, and those of us who are Christians would do well to recognize this and stop expecting God to continue to bless us as a country.  Yes, God is still present here, because there are many of his people still here.  But we cannot claim Bible verses for our nation that were meant for the people of Israel in Old Testament times just because we believe that America was founded on Christian principles.  Many other passages in the Bible make it clear that God will not tolerate continuous sin or nations/people groups that intentionally choose to walk away from his principles.  As much as I want our nation to return to God, I fear it is too late in many ways; we have simply moved too far away from what pleases God (which he has made clear in his Word never changes – regardless of how “enlightened” we feel we have become).  Individual Christians CAN make a difference where they live, but we must do it with a different approach than the politicians and activists around us who have been winning the war.  Shouting on social media and expecting everything to return to the way it was 240 years ago just isn’t effective.

Of one thing I am sure: No politician or political party or specific laws or repeal of laws holds any hope for our nation.  Only God can bring about the type of change that will allow America to continue as a country with the ability to influence other countries in a positive way.  That’s because only God can effect changes of the heart; and only heart changes make a difference that is of eternal value.  On this 4^th of July, I’m praying . . . not for a particular politician or political party to come out on top, not for a return to Puritan values or the destruction of those who disagree – but for God to be the center of the lives of American Christians and for their behavior wherever they go to reflect his Lordship in their lives.  Only when we consistently model Christ’s perfect balance of all of God’s attributes (regardless of our current circumstances or the prevailing political climate) will we provide the atmosphere God needs to be able to work in our nation for his glory.  Then we’ll truly have a reason to say, “Happy Birthday, America”!