A myopic Christian is easily influenced. Just trot out a candidate who swears they will do something about their issue, and you have them hooked. George W. Bush co-opted plenty of Christian votes during his two campaigns. Many of them voted solely for the pro-life issue yet what did he do with complete control of both houses of Congress as president? Nothing. He never even brought it up. But he did support frivolous wars that resulted in the deaths of over a million people, not including our own troops. Those people mattered to God. I know we have been conditioned to think God only blesses America but that is simply more of the idolatry spoken about earlier. When Jesus was told His mother and brothers were waiting to see Him, He says who are His mother and brother except them who does the will of the Father. Beloved the Christian family we have goes far beyond our borders. The mission field goes far beyond this country. It is a tremendous privilege to be able to vote since so many countries do not allow it at all but never confuse that privilege with your faith. God does not care who we think makes the next best king of Sodom. We have no Christian or Biblical imperative to influence society through the carnal voting process. We have not been instructed to revive this country, take over any mountains, or institute a theocratic form of government. Jesus commissioned us to make disciples not to forcibly convert unbelievers. This isn't the Crusades. So then think for a moment what we are essentially trying to do by legislating our faith over people who think the things of God are utter foolishness. For some reason we believe that if we can just change the behaviors of the unsaved then we have accomplished something for the kingdom, but have we? If we convince an unbeliever to not commit a sin, have we changed their eternal destination? No, we have not. That is because we are dealing with the symptom rather than the problem. We are not sinners because we sin beloved. We sin because we are sinners. That is what needs to be explained properly if we expect there to be any change in behavior. We need to see sin differently, turn from it, and repent. That does not happen by changing laws but only through the third and central plank in our Christian Voting Guide.
Plank Number Three -- It's The Gospel Stupid. This is a take-off from the campaign slogan Bill Clinton used in 1992, which said it was the economy stupid. Sometimes we get so clever in our carnal thinking that we forget that the only thing that should matter to us as Christians is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the salvation of the lost. Not rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. While the church is striving to be relevant to a godless culture, we miss the truth, which is this:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. -- Romans 1: 16 (ESV)
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? -- 2Corinthians 6: 14-15 (ESV)
You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. -- Matthew 5: 14 (ESV)
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. -- 1Peter 2: 11-12 (ESV)
This is just a small handful of verses beloved. The entire Bible lays this out for us if we would put aside our carnal politics and be willing to see it. The first verse clearly explains that only the Gospel has the power to save anyone. Not your pastor. Not your congressman. Not your chosen candidate. Not your favorite legislative wish. Not your preferred judicial appointments. The second set of verses clearly shows we are not to have partnership with darkness. That is not our role beloved. We are not supposed to meet them where they are at. We are not supposed to make the Gospel relevant to them somehow on a carnal level. The third verse shows what we are supposed to do. We are supposed to shine beloved! Not with scathing critiques of the self-perceived greater evil or the carefully crafted lies created by political operatives. Not with judgments about sin for unbelievers. 1Corinthians 5 clearly teaches us that God judges those outside the church. We become the shining city on a hill by showing the world that we are above the petty politicking they are drowning in every day. That we serve a God who will use whoever is elected. Instead, what do they see? Rampant and blatant unbelief in the God we claim to serve. You heard me right. How many Christians have been absolutely apocalyptic in their pushing of one candidate over another this year? As if the world hinged in the balance. As if God could not handle if their candidate was not elected. How do you think that is perceived by the world? The things of God may be foolishness to them, but utter carnal fear is not lost on them at all. Then they see Christians lie on behalf of their candidate. Bear blatant false witness against their chosen opponent and here is a wakeup call beloved. Posting what someone else said without bothering to check if it is true is also lying. It is also bearing false witness. So is pretending that finding a random fool on YouTube that confirms your bias is "research." You have not "vetted" a story by going solely to your sources that you know will happily line up to prop up the party lies. God does not need us to lie for Him. He does not ascribe to Machiavellian beliefs of the ends justifying the means. Here is something unsettling to consider as well. Our assumptions of the lesser evil are merely our assumptions. They may not even be accurate. That is why we focus on the one thing that never changes and we know is absolute truth -- the gospel. By doing so we will stand out in a world full of chaos. We will be the calm. We will be like a city shining on a hill. The last set of verses here reminds us of a few realities of being a Christian. First of all, we are exiles in this land. We act too often as full-fledged residents when our citizenship is supposed to be in heaven. When we see choices like we have every election season we should weep over this country as Jesus wept once over Jerusalem. Not because of politics but because they are like sheep without a shepherd. We are supposed to keep our conduct among the unbelievers honorable. Did we get that? Honorable. Not posting ridiculous memes or tweeting long debunked lies. Truth is not meant to be malleable. Haitians are not eating pets in Ohio. The government is not creating hurricanes. The church should not be found promoting the political lies of this world. This leads us to the fourth plank in a truly Biblical Voting Guide.
Plank Number Four -- The Witness Protection Program -- There is a reason why the bible says to remain honorable among the unbelievers. It is the same reason why the Bible says we ought to be redeeming the time with them. Beloved, we have a witness for Jesus Christ, whether we like it or not. We can choose to never evangelize anyone, but our lives still bear witness. Remember, all lives bear a witness. That is what Jesus is saying in our key verse. There are two choices. There is no third option. What we do and say will either gather people to Jesus or scatter them away from Him. Nothing is more divisive in this country than politics. I have seen Christians behaving in the worst possible ways in defense of their chosen lesser evil. Do we honestly think this is lost on the unbelieving world? That we talk, post, and tweet Jesus all day long and then spew some vile and venomous hatred towards the other candidate and their followers? If people see that you lie so casually about something as ultimately trivial as politics, why in the world would they believe anything you have to say about Jesus?
