Again I say, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. -- 2Timothy 2: 23-24 (NLT)
It seems every election cycle in this country Christians lose their grasp on Scripture in order to pursue their own pre-formed biases and political predilections, wrap them up in the name of Jesus and try to sell them to other Christians as faux righteousness. As a former political writer and admitted political junkie it is always a disturbing time for me now that I am saved and have the Spirit of God inside of me. I cringe when I hear otherwise sane Christians insanely rant about how their chosen evil is "evil lite" compared to the other guy. They come armed with their Christian rationales, most of which are formed by political operatives masquerading as Christian leaders. I will be delving deeper into this in tomorrow's devotional but for today's thought of the day I just want to focus on one misperception that is out there. That perception is that God is concerned about who you vote for. He is not.
Now, now, I do not mean that as Christians we should not consider what the Bible says when we cast our vote -- we should. What I am speaking against is the spiritual fear-mongering and spiritual bullying that seems to come every election cycle. It seems some would imply that God is going to be reviewing our voting history when we stand before Him and that is simply unbiblical and downright silly at the core. That is because the problem at the core of that rationale is that there is one candidate that is for God and another that is not. Unfortunately that is simply untrue. If there ever was an election between one candidate that believed everything we hold as beliefs and another who clearly did not then maybe things would be different but until then we are left to choose between two equally flawed people; neither of which lines up with our beliefs. The real problem is not in the vote we cast but in the advocacy of that vote as if it was righteous:
What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. -- Isaiah 5: 20 (NLT)
Does God care who gets elected President this year? Absolutely not. First of all, Scripture teaches us that God already knows who is going to win the election. Additionally, God will use whoever wins the election for His glory and for His grand plan. There is nothing we can do to interfere with His plans. Our responsibility is a civic one, not a Christian one. We should exercise this civic responsibility as we exercise all of our responsibilities -- according to the Word of God. Well what does that mean? That means that you pray and vote as the Spirit leads you to. Realize however that even the most "spiritual" person still resides in their flesh. That flesh has its own biases and opinions that do not always line up with what God might want. I know people who are spiritually strong who voted on opposite sides last time and I am sure there will be many more this time. The notion that one of them is correct and the other is on the wrong side of God is foolish and divisive.
This brings us to the key verses for today. Nothing seems to make Christians more difficult to deal with than voting. The verses exhort us to avoid engaging in foolish and ignorant arguments. The cold hard truth so many seem to want to ignore is that we do not know the people we claim to know so well when we vote. We know what they say when they are running for office but we do not know them. So we prop up a sense of righteousness they do not have and have not earned in order to convince ourselves that we are somehow doing God's will. The truth is that the pro-life candidate in this year's election was pro-choice when he ran for Governor in a more liberal state. In fact if you asked most evangelical Christians who was the most "Christian" president we have had, many would answer the previous president, George W. Bush. Yet here was his answer when asked about Islam -- "Well, first of all, I believe in an Almighty God, and I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian, or any other religion, prays to the same God. That's what I believe. Sorry beloved but that is not what we believe as Christians. The Bible says that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
The point here is that what makes our arguments truly ignorant is we are going by what people tell us, who will tell us anything we want to hear just to get elected. For every Christian argument you can make for one candidate I can make a Christian argument against voting for them. For every Christian reason you can come up with for not voting for someone, I can give you a Christian reason for voting them. I understand the rationale out there for impacting culture but even that is being misapplied. The problems this country faces are very real but they are not carnal in nature -- they are spiritual. Yes we have a responsibility but it is a spiritual one -- not a carnal one. Instead of arguing with one another about the alleged righteousness of voting for one person over another we should be praying together for our leaders and for the will of God to be accomplished through whoever ends up in charge. Instead of voting drives we should be holding prayer vigils. Instead of berating the unsaved with the morality of Christianity we should be loving them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I used to debate with a barbed wire Christian friend of mine and finally I just told him that if he ever accomplished his goal of stopping every woman from ever having an abortion and every gay couple from ever marrying he still accomplished nothing for them because they are all still going to hell. That is because he did not address their problem, which is their separation from God. We need to stop trying to do the work that is set aside for God. It is not our job to convict people of their sin -- that is left to the Holy Spirit. The social Christian issues such as abortion are a symptom of a culture that is separated from God. Satan has blinded them:
Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. -- 2Corinthians 4: 4 (NLT)
I do not know the right person to vote for this year or any year. I do not pretend to. I know however that I serve a God who will use whoever does win for His plan and His glory. I know that when I stand before Christ He is going to be infinitely more concerned about who I loved than who I hated. He is going to be infinitely more concerned about who I prayed for than who I voted for. Do not allow the spiritual bullying and fear-mongering to continue. Neither party cares for the cause of Jesus Christ and if you are thinking about trying to discern the "lesser of two evils" -- I will be addressing that in tomorrow's devotional. God bless.
Rev. Anthony
