Trinity Baptist Church

How Should a Christian Vote?

The Government and the Kingdom

Romans 13:1; Colossians 1:13

 

We are drawing very near to an extremely important time in our nation’s history and that is election day.  As we prepare for it, there are two things I want to place in your possession. 

 

One is a prayer guide.  And I want to apologize for getting it to you late.  As I planned my preaching calendar back a few months ago, my intention was to begin this series of messages the first Sunday of October and distribute the prayer guides then.  They are thirty-day guides and that would have led us up to the election.  But as we planned for The Great Okie Roundup, I felt God would have me preach evangelistically that day. 

 

As a result of that we are a week behind.  But you will receive that guide today.  It will ead you to pray for our country and its leadership and the election, as well as every state in the union over the next month. 

 

The other thing I want to give you is some biblical direction that will help you know how to vote.  Now some of you are already offended after that one sentence.  But that is because you weren’t listening very well.  If you were, you noticed I didn’t say I was going to help you know for whom to vote, but how to vote.  And there is a great difference between those two statements because if you will learn how to vote, then you will always be equipped to responsibly cast your vote in an election.

 

There are basically three ways that people approach this great privilege of voting.  For some, they simply cast their vote according to their affiliation.  If they are a democrat, they vote democrat.  Or if they are republican, that’s how they vote.  They don’t ask any questions; they don’t look at the platform.  They just vote party lines.  In fact, I’ve had more than one person, usually in a church somewhere, tell me, when I offered them a copy of their party’s platform, “I don’t want that; I’m not interested.”

 

By the way, that is the most immature and foolish way to cast a vote.  And it is my firm conviction that’s how some of the nuts we have serving wound up in office.    But that’s how some vote. 

 

Others will take an extra step.  They watch the debates; they listen to the speeches; they read the platforms and look at the voting records and history of the candidate and then decide, according to human experience and logic the best choice. 

And I commend those who do that.  In fact, I want to be of help to you in that.  There are many trusted, Christian organizations who take the work out of that for you.  We have provided you today with the Christian Coalition’s voter guide that will give you a quick reference on major issues. It’s just one of several that are available.  I also have available a copy of both party platforms and will be happy to make them available to you or if you have internet access, they are easily located. 

 

But there is another component to knowing how to vote that is often overlooked or ignored and that is to seek God’s counsel and direction.  Let me explain what I mean by that.

 

If you were to come to me with a personal problem, and you didn’t know which way to turn, and you said, “Pastor, help me!”  I would try to identify the cause of your dilemma, then open my Bible and speak to you God’s truth about your situation.  And I trust that is what you would expect of me. 

 

In fact, it would be a waste of your time if I said, “I’ve seen others with the same problem and your need is no different.  Here’s what you need to do”.  In fact, you would probably be offended if I said, “Well I would guess your momma and daddy before you had the same problem, and your grandparents before them, and it’s probably just the way you were raised.  Ya’ll have always been that way!  It’s just who you are!”

 

It might be a little better if I said, “I’ve been reading about your situation and there’s a great author who has this or that to say. . .”  And maybe I could talk about the socio-economic developments of these times and how moral values are changing and try to impress you with all of knowledge and wisdom. 

 

But the best thing I can do for you is find out what God’s Word has to say about what you are dealing with and then guide my counsel according to it. 

 

And whether it is a personal problem that has robbed you of God’s best, a family crisis that has left your home in chaos, a church problem that is destroying the fellowship, or a financial problem that is out of control, I would open the same Bible in every situation and see what God has to say about how to fix it. 

 

And the reason I would do that is because only Scripture holds the final and authoritative answer to every problem that humans encounter. 

 

And I would suggest to you that it is no different when we are dealing with national concerns and the issues are moral, social, and economic decline. 

 

But unfortunately, what many Christians do is change books.  For some reason, when it comes to politics and elections, the Bible is disregarded and instead we rely more on family tradition and personal experience and human logic than we do what the Bible teaches. 

 

And for some reason, while Scripture is good enough for individual, family and church problems, it seems that somehow it has been deemed insufficient or irrelevant for how we respond to politics and government. 

 

For many, it’s good enough to teach and study on Sunday morning.  It just has no effect on our political decisions. It’s amazing to me at how little God gets included in the discussions.  In fact, He got voted down and booed at the democratic convention this year. 

 

I guess that’s their business, but I will tell you that as Christians, unless God’s Word is the overarching influence and rationale over how are votes are cast, we have no right to complain about how bad things are in the nation or wonder why God doesn’t do something to help us.  Why should we expect God to bless our nation when He is ignored and even dismissed from the equation?

 

It’s time to return to the Book.  We have one source and one source alone for how our country should operate and that is God’s infallible, unchanging Word. 

 

So let me help you know how a Christian should vote by beginning with one foundational principle upon which everything else rests.

 

It is found in Romans 13:1

 

Notice the first line of the second sentence.

 

“There is no authority except from God”

 

Understand:  God is in charge and He alone sits as the ultimate government over His creation.  All other governments are under Him and are to reflect His ultimate rule.  That’s His design.  It doesn’t mean they will, but that is what He requires.  And they will ultimately be judged for how they ruled.

 

That’s why, no matter how one may try, God cannot be removed from a believer’s involvement or representation in government because laws are based on belief systems.

 

Now as Christians, our belief system is based on the Word of God.  Therefore, of necessity it has to guide our politics and determine how we vote.  That means  every voting choice you and I make ought to be for the candidate, platform, party or policy that will best represent the values of the Kingdom of God. 

 

Therefore, in one way of looking at it, the answer to “how should a Christian vote” is as easy as that.  But in another way, it’s rather complex. 

For instance, this year we are faced with an interesting choice.  On the one hand, we have a president who claims to be a Christian and gives very little, if any evidence that he is one. 

 

In fact, in light of the decisions he has made, the affiliations he holds, the statements he makes, and even the church he attends, he is very anti-Christian and more specifically, anti-Bible.  On such issues as abortion and gay-rights and taxation and illegal immigration, he couldn’t be farther from the truth of Scripture.

 

David Barton is an evangelical Christian minister and author. He founded WallBuilders, a Texas-based organization. We’ve had the privilege of having him here in Ardmore at one of Enon’s bible conferences.  He is considered by many as an expert in historical and constitutional issues. 

 

He recently reported that Obama is America’s most biblically hostile president ever and documented the claim by citing over fifty different decisions and actions aimed at biblical values and people of faith while at the same time showing preferential treatment of Muslims.

 

On the other hand, we have in Mitt Romney, a man who claims to be a Christian, who probably isn’t one because his Mormon faith is incompatible with Biblical teaching. And yet, his moral stands are completely consistent with conservative, Biblical interpretation.

 

 

 

So obviously, this is not one of those years where we look at a man’s Christian faith, as we were able to do with George W. Bush, for instance, and say, “Here is a man who shares our faith and lives it out and demonstrates it openly and has that testimony.”

 

We don’t have that this year.  So how do we decide for whom to vote? 

 

As a Christian, our responsibility when we cast our vote is to understand the principle of God’s kingdom and His values and then compare those with the content and character of whatever person, party, platform or policy which is before you and then cast our support for the one who’s service will best advance the kingdom of God. 

 

Now, just so we’re clear, let’s think about what we are talking about when we reference the kingdom of God because the better we understand the concept of the Kingdom of God, the better we will understand His agenda and our responsibility in regard to it.  . 

 

Throughout the Bible, the kingdom of God is used to reference His rule, His plan and His program.  God’s kingdom is all-inclusive.  It covers everything in the universe.  In fact, a simple definition of God’s kingdom is His comprehensive rule over all creation.

 

Now if God’s kingdom is comprehensive, so is His agenda.  In fact we could define God’s agenda as the comprehensive rule of God over every area of life.

 

Let me bring it down to a tangible, hands-on truth:  So often we want to vote the way we want to, then ask God to bless our choice rather than casting our votes based on seeking God’s will and agenda.  Simply put, we want God to sign off on our decisions rather than following His.  But it doesn’t work that way.  God has only one plan and it is to advance His kingdom.  What did Jesus teach His followers to pray?

“Your kingdom come, your will be done. . .where?  On earth as it is in heaven.”  At the end of the prayer, He says, “Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”

 

Therefore, our responsibility is to find out what that looks like so we can make sure we are voting for God’s plan and not ours.  And we find the plan, the agenda for God’s kingdom spelled out in the Bible. 

 

So when we talk about the kingdom we’re talking about a king who has power and authority, but He also has a plan. 

 

Not only does a kingdom have a king and a plan,  there must also be subjects in that kingdom. 

 

That’s us.  He is the ruler; we are the rul-ees!

 

There must also be a realm to that kingdom; an area or sphere over which that rule extends.  And if you’re going to have a kingdom, there must also be some regulations.  Those are the guidelines that govern the relationship between the ruler and the subjects and the subjects with each other.  They are absolutely necessary, or else you won’t know what the ruler expects.

 

 

 

Now watch this:  God’s kingdom has all of those elements.  He is the Absolute Ruler of the Kingdom and His reign extends over all creation. His authority is total. Everything God rules, He runs, even when it appears that He doesn’t.  Even when life looks like it is out of control.

 

Now, at the heart of the kingdom agenda is the fact that there is no separation between the secular and the sacred.   All of life is sacred.  Remember, it’s all under His control.  Therefore every issue and decision, whether moral, social, economic, educational, environmental or spiritual is to mirror God’s principles.

 

Therefore, it just makes sense that those who are a part of His kingdom and who have been given the responsibility of representing Him in this world ought to vote as He directs and desires.

 

Let me leave you with one final verse of Scripture.

 

It is found in Colossians 1:13

 

Everyone who has trusted Jesus as Savior has been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.  If you have never done that, today is the day, if you sense God calling you, to get that taken care of. 

 

Once that happens, once you become a believer in Jesus Christ, your allegiance has changed.  You are no longer to follow the world’s ways, but Christ’s.

 

And just in case there’s any doubt, there are only two kingdoms.  There are only two realms in creation.  One belongs to God, the other is Satan’s.  You are subject to one or the other.  And as a believer, you are to be subject to Jesus Christ in His kingdom.  That means you belong to another realm.  Your allegiance is in another world. And no matter where you live, work, travel or vote, you are a citizen of God’s kingdom.

 

The story is told about a man who needed to get his shoe repaired.  He rushed to the shoe shop and got there at exactly 5:00 p.m.  He scanned the parking lot and noticed it was empty, but he headed to the door, just in case someone might still be there.

 

Sure enough, the door opened and the repairman was still there.

 

“I didn’t think anyone was here,” the man said. 

 

“You were just in time.  I was about to go home.”

 

“How were you going home?  I didn’t see any cars.”

 

“See those stairs over there? I live up there.  I just work down here.”

 

Listen:  As Christians, we live up there too.  Our citizenship is in heaven.  That is our home. 

That is the kingdom to which we belong.  We just work down here.  And understanding that one key spiritual truth is fundamental to all we do and even how we vote on earth. 

 

Now the world would have you forget that.  They would lead you to believe that where you work is where you live..  But that’s not true.  As members of the body of Christ, we get our directions and instructions from our King.

Therefore, to walk into a voting booth and simply pull a lever because that is what your friends do or that is how you’ve always voted or because of a party affiliation is to neglect one of the greatest responsibilities you have, which is to cast a vote for the values of the kingdom of God.

 

Rather, your vote ought to be determined by an intentional knowledge of God’s kingdom and His purposes on earth combined with a thorough understanding of the issue or candidate before you.

 

Then you will not only cast your vote for the betterment of your country, but you will also cast your vote for the advancement of the kingdom of God. 

 

Let’s pray