In one of my recent posts I discussed some of the issues which the primary season has raised. I was asked
about a few aspects of it, and wanted to flesh some of this out. I think one of the most wonderful aspects of politics is that we get to hear what people running for office say, then we can compare that with what they have done, and then we get to see how many people were fooled after the polls close.
In essence, we get to hear a great deal of opinions and the point of an election is that we then vote for who best represents us. Unfortunately, the reality of living in a representative government is lost on much of our citizenry, and that is largely why we are in the state we are. We entrusted the fox with the chore of collecting the eggs from the chicken coop, and are shocked when we awake in the morning to find, through groggy eyes, that the chickens are gone, and ask the fox if he can watch the baby while we go look for the chickens.
When you vote, you are choosing someone to represent you. This means that their vote, is your vote; their abstaining, is your abstaining; they’re declaration of war is yours; their executive overreach is what you chose!
Men are imperfect. Thus we must weigh candidates carefully, knowing that we may not align perfectly. But, the individual voter’s aim is to vote for the person (and party) which best represents their convictions. If you have no convictions, your ideological ambivalence is one of the reasons taxes are high, unborn babies are murdered and sold like biology experiments, and the national debt is nearing $20,000,000,000,000. Though you may be indifferent, be assured there are others who are certainly NOT indifferent and have a clear agenda. As the saying goes, the best way to grow weeds is to do nothing. Solomon said something similar about such people as well (Pro. 18:9, Pro. 24:30-34).
Now, the secularist agenda has been remarkable in its methodical plod towards its ultimate goals and aims. Somewhere along the line, however, Christians became timid about openly stating that our aim and goal, in the civic sphere, is the establishment of a Christian Republic. This wasn’t an uncertain thing for many of the founding father’s; they clearly leaned heavily on Old Testament law, and a presbyterian form of government in shaping our nation. We 21st century Christians have become rather sheepish about admitting our aims, whereas the secularists have no qualms about actively recruiting to theirs (via a clever hashtag campaign that Christian kids think is pretty hip and cool, i.e. #FeelTheBern).
“But,†some Message toting Christian hipster may protest, “We can’t really force people to be Christians though, can we?†The response is that yes, while, being born again is indeed something that the Holy Spirit alone can produce, we are also responsible for whether we and our families, communities, and nation will be faithful to follow all that the Lord Jesus commanded.
Why do we assume that voting for a faithful Christian who will govern, judge, or legislate according to his Christian convictions is any different from a faithful secularist governing, judging or legislating according to THEIR secularist convictions? When we vote we expect, and in fact should insist (far more vehemently than we often do), that our elected officials carry out their duties in alignment with their principles. When you vote for someone who believes taxing the top 2% into oblivion, you expect them stay consistent to that goal; you voted for them to represent you in purloining.
Christians ought to be far more concerned than they are about the guiding principles of the candidates they vote for. Further, we must not to be ashamed to admit that our goal is to disciple the nations to the glory of Christ, and this means freedom to worship God. One of the main roles of the civil government in all this, is to ensure that we are free to do so. The government is to keep us safe from foreign threats to our freedom, and ensure to us the ability of living in a nation whose laws are shaped and informed primarily by God’s Word.
Why should we as Christians be ashamed to admit that our aim in the civil sphere is to enact laws that honor God, and strike down laws that don’t, doing all of this in submission to the Kingship of the Lord Jesus? Why should we not advocate for godly men who will take public office begrudgingly, yet humbly, and then execute their office by being guided by the truths of the Christian faith as found in the Bible?
Some may object, saying we are cramming our religion down their throat. To which we must consistently point out that we are not in neutral territory. If Christians do not stand their ground and hold to God’s Word as the authority for how man must conduct himself in family, church, business and society, someone else will be coming along shortly to cram something else down their throat; that someone will also have “the poison of asps is under their lips†(Rom. 3:13) and will fasten the chains of tyranny upon us. Christianity gave the world ultimate liberty, for we are founded upon the premise that Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death. A Christ-less ideology is a sure ticket to enslavement, strife, debt, and death; and unfortunately, millions of Americans vote for THAT year after year.
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