During the last presidential election Adam and I were living in TN.....and thankfully were being shepherded by a very wise, Godly man. He showed us why it was so very important that we vote and answered lots of questions for us. This time around he is posting some very good advice and very convicting (at least for myself) statements. I think this is solid advice so I wanted to share day one and two's thoughts with you!!!
From a super smart man--Brother Reggie Weems
Day One - At this present juncture we have a President who claims Christ but whose record evidences otherwise. The challenger also claims to be a Christian but his religious affiliation denies the biblical record on several essential doctrines. In other words, there is reason to believe both of these men are Christians but also that both these men are n
ot Christians. This discourages
some Christian voters. Bottom line: only God knows if a person is a
Christian. Was George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, (and
are) Bill Clinton, Barak Obama or Mitt Romney Christians? Only God
knows. In reality, no one has ever known if he or she is voting for a
Christian. Only God does. Omniscience is not a divinely ordained
prerequisite to vote. No Christian is responsible for the Christianity
of a candidate but every Christian is responsible for his or her own
Christianity. Christian voters do have a biblical responsibility to
cooperate with God’s red
emptive agenda on earth and in a democracy that includes the providential blessing to vote. In the Christian worldview there is no such thing as neutrality (vote/cooperate with God’s grand global renovation scheme) so AWOL from the voting booth is not an option. A Christian who doesn’t vote as poorly reflects Christianity as a President whose policies violate biblical principles or a challenger whose religious affiliation contradicts the Christian Bible. Our real responsibility as Christians is not to determine a person’s Christianity but to vote toward God’s agenda in a fallen world. As Christians we are never really voting for a person but a plan and concepts that best reflects and affords us the opportunity to cast our vote for God’s redemptive program. In a fallen world with fallen candidates and fallen voters, ‘best’ is good enough. That is much easier to determine than a person’s Christianity. It’s also a divine mandate. So…if you’re a Christian but not planning to vote, a) quit playing God; b) get the beam out of your own eye and c) fulfill your Christian responsibility - get out the vote!
emptive agenda on earth and in a democracy that includes the providential blessing to vote. In the Christian worldview there is no such thing as neutrality (vote/cooperate with God’s grand global renovation scheme) so AWOL from the voting booth is not an option. A Christian who doesn’t vote as poorly reflects Christianity as a President whose policies violate biblical principles or a challenger whose religious affiliation contradicts the Christian Bible. Our real responsibility as Christians is not to determine a person’s Christianity but to vote toward God’s agenda in a fallen world. As Christians we are never really voting for a person but a plan and concepts that best reflects and affords us the opportunity to cast our vote for God’s redemptive program. In a fallen world with fallen candidates and fallen voters, ‘best’ is good enough. That is much easier to determine than a person’s Christianity. It’s also a divine mandate. So…if you’re a Christian but not planning to vote, a) quit playing God; b) get the beam out of your own eye and c) fulfill your Christian responsibility - get out the vote!
Day Two from brother @Reggie Weems. Some
Christians will not vote for a candidate or in an election because of a
single issue. There are good models to the contrary. Jesus was not a
single-issue citizen, nor was Paul. If so, Jesus would not have endorsed
the financial support of a government that practiced infanticide,
abortion and euthanasia. Paul would not have encouraged submission to a
governm
ent that did the same. Neither did
anything to end mass slavery but rather encouraged Christians to pay
their taxes to such governments and pray for the leadership of such
governments. And both governments didn’t kill only others (infanticide,
abortion and euthanasia); those governments killed Jesus and Paul, the
very men whose taxes bought the nails and whose willing submission cost
him his life. Yet no single issue, not even their own deaths, kept
either Jesus or Paul from acknowledging that God created and uses fallen
governments as divinely welded tools in his all-encompassing redemptive
scheme. That alone should eliminate single-issue concerns. No single
issue kept Jesus or Paul from fulfilling their obligations as citizens
to a government over which God is sovereign. (Those last three words are
the most important).
What about single issue nonvoting? Christians regularly vote for liars, adulterers, coveters and thieves (Shall we go down the whole 10C?). Former candidate’s (and President’s) positions on the military, Medicare, jobs, the economy and the budget annually result in the deaths of untold millions yet Christians regularly vote for such candidates. If single-issue voters are consistent they will never vote for a human being (major or third party) because all humans are sinners and guilty of far more than any journalist can discover. If single-issue voters are consistent they will not pay taxes to a government that commits the sin that discourages their vote. What single issue voters are really saying is “I get to choose the sin that’s really sin.” In effect single-issue voters make themselves God; determining which sin is permissible for a candidate either personally or politically. But lying is as damnable as theft as abortion. Every candidate is guilty. Every voter is guilty. Choosing a single issue is just choosing your most unlikeable sin. That’s not Christianity, that’s Phariseeism. Single-issue nonvoters really do vote. They vote for the sin they choose most sinful acting as judge and jury on which sins enable or disable the vote (a God-ordained right thus a God-ordained responsibility). As such, single-issue voting or nonvoting is not righteousness but self-righteousness. Righteousness is submitting to God’s kingdom agenda. God has sovereignly placed you as salt and light in a country in which you have the God-given, not State-given, right to vote. It’s part of your two citizen (heaven/earth) responsibility as an ambassador of Christ. Don’t let the world steal your mission. Jesus didn’t, nor Paul. Single issue voting is like hiding the candle because it’s too dark or refusing to salt food because it’s too bland. Jesus encouraged quite the opposite. That’s the point of light and salt.
But aren’t we just voting for the lesser of two evils? Of course you are…every time you vote. There is no other choice no matter the candidate or party. The only time you could vote to elect a sinless leader (the Second Coming) that leader won’t give you the right to vote. No party/agenda is perfect because it is constructed and operated by sinners. Any kingdom other than that of Jesus is the lesser of two evils. (Sorry you Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats) If you’re going to vote you don’t have a choice about the lesser of two evils…and if Jesus is your Lord you don’t have a choice about voting.
Christians are voting for something (God’s kingdom agenda) more than voting against single issues. The Christian’s focus is on God, not on a person or party. Otherwise its idol worship and the idol worship of a man, party or yourself can keep you from voting. You read me right. Some people think they’re too holy to vote for a sinner or sinning party. Yet Jesus took a coin from a fish, gave it to Peter and told him to pay taxes; the support of a government that committed the grossest sin possible. Likewise Paul commanded believers to submit to a government that killed him. Jesus could have been a single-issue citizen. His issue could have been human crucifixion. Paul’s could have been the death penalty. Yet neither was a single-issue citizen.
In effect single-issue nonvoters make themselves God; determining which sin is permissible for a candidate personally or politically. On the other hand, every vote is a prayer of “Your kingdom come.” Voting is a divine privilege to participate in God’s universal, comprehensive redemptive scheme. It has very little to do with your view of a government but everything to do with your view of God. Think bigger dear Christian friend. To abrogate a divinely bestowed responsibility...hmmm….that would be sin. Aren’t single-issue nonvoters against that?
What about single issue nonvoting? Christians regularly vote for liars, adulterers, coveters and thieves (Shall we go down the whole 10C?). Former candidate’s (and President’s) positions on the military, Medicare, jobs, the economy and the budget annually result in the deaths of untold millions yet Christians regularly vote for such candidates. If single-issue voters are consistent they will never vote for a human being (major or third party) because all humans are sinners and guilty of far more than any journalist can discover. If single-issue voters are consistent they will not pay taxes to a government that commits the sin that discourages their vote. What single issue voters are really saying is “I get to choose the sin that’s really sin.” In effect single-issue voters make themselves God; determining which sin is permissible for a candidate either personally or politically. But lying is as damnable as theft as abortion. Every candidate is guilty. Every voter is guilty. Choosing a single issue is just choosing your most unlikeable sin. That’s not Christianity, that’s Phariseeism. Single-issue nonvoters really do vote. They vote for the sin they choose most sinful acting as judge and jury on which sins enable or disable the vote (a God-ordained right thus a God-ordained responsibility). As such, single-issue voting or nonvoting is not righteousness but self-righteousness. Righteousness is submitting to God’s kingdom agenda. God has sovereignly placed you as salt and light in a country in which you have the God-given, not State-given, right to vote. It’s part of your two citizen (heaven/earth) responsibility as an ambassador of Christ. Don’t let the world steal your mission. Jesus didn’t, nor Paul. Single issue voting is like hiding the candle because it’s too dark or refusing to salt food because it’s too bland. Jesus encouraged quite the opposite. That’s the point of light and salt.
But aren’t we just voting for the lesser of two evils? Of course you are…every time you vote. There is no other choice no matter the candidate or party. The only time you could vote to elect a sinless leader (the Second Coming) that leader won’t give you the right to vote. No party/agenda is perfect because it is constructed and operated by sinners. Any kingdom other than that of Jesus is the lesser of two evils. (Sorry you Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats) If you’re going to vote you don’t have a choice about the lesser of two evils…and if Jesus is your Lord you don’t have a choice about voting.
Christians are voting for something (God’s kingdom agenda) more than voting against single issues. The Christian’s focus is on God, not on a person or party. Otherwise its idol worship and the idol worship of a man, party or yourself can keep you from voting. You read me right. Some people think they’re too holy to vote for a sinner or sinning party. Yet Jesus took a coin from a fish, gave it to Peter and told him to pay taxes; the support of a government that committed the grossest sin possible. Likewise Paul commanded believers to submit to a government that killed him. Jesus could have been a single-issue citizen. His issue could have been human crucifixion. Paul’s could have been the death penalty. Yet neither was a single-issue citizen.
In effect single-issue nonvoters make themselves God; determining which sin is permissible for a candidate personally or politically. On the other hand, every vote is a prayer of “Your kingdom come.” Voting is a divine privilege to participate in God’s universal, comprehensive redemptive scheme. It has very little to do with your view of a government but everything to do with your view of God. Think bigger dear Christian friend. To abrogate a divinely bestowed responsibility...hmmm….that would be sin. Aren’t single-issue nonvoters against that?
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