Praise God, the presidential inauguration last Wednesday has proceeded safely. America now has a new president and vice president. However, it is clear that not everyone likes the new president Joseph Biden. Jim Denison wrote, "Moments before the president-elect took the stage for his inauguration on Wednesday, the hashtag #NotMyPresident started trending on Twitter. By 11:30 AM ET, there were over twenty-one thousand tweets that included this hashtag. This is not the first time we have seen such vitriol. When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, the hashtag #HesNotMyPresident was used more than 180,000 times in a few hours. After he was appointed in 2017, "Not My President Day" rallies were held across the country."
Many people are disappointed with the election results. But as Christians who want to follow God's commands, how should we respond to our country's new leader, especially if we don't like him because we disagree with his policies? I'm going to share these four things:
1. Honor him as someone God has appointed to lead this country. Let us read Romans 13:1-2 "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Did you know that Paul wrote this statement when Nero was the Roman Emperor? Nero was not elected. He became emperor after his predecessor, Claudius, died in AD 54, possibly from poisoning. Nero killed his mother and first wife, then blamed Christians for the fire in Rome, which led to many believers' torture and crucifixion. According to tradition, he was directly responsible for the executions of Peter and Paul. However, the apostle Paul did not ask Christians to insult or rebel against Nero. Why? Because Paul believed that God is almighty. He controls everything that happens in this world, including the leaders in the countries. Even though Nero was a bad guy, he wouldn't have been emperor if God had not allowed it. Our basis for respecting a country leader is that God is the One who ordains that person to sit in government.
Franklin Graham was right when he responded to last Wednesday's inauguration: "I encourage Christians to make this a day of prayer—for peace and calm, and praying for our new leaders." Johnnie Moore, president of a Christian leadership organization that informally advised President Trump, offered congratulations to the new president and vice-president and stated, "You can count on my prayers and the prayers of tens of millions of Evangelicals whose commitment to pray for our nation and its leaders knows no politics."
2. Pray for them. Let us read 1 Timothy 2: 1-2 "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." The Apostle Paul advises us to offer supplications, intercession, and thanksgiving for everyone, including the leaders of nations, whoever leads. The goal is that under his leadership, we can live quietly and serenely in all righteousness and honor. Leaders who do not fear God or practice His word can make decisions that cause chaos and suffering for their people and can even lead their countries to destruction. That's why we need to pray for our leaders.
3. Support programs that prosper the people. Let us read Jeremiah 29:7 "Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." At that time, the Israelites were in Babylon as a nation of captives. However, God told them to take care of the welfare of the city where they lived because if the city was prosperous, they would also experience prosperity. The principle here is not to be indifferent or to boycott government programs that are good for society simply because we don't like the leader. The Lord Jesus, for example, told His disciples to pay taxes because it was needed to pay for public facilities as well: "Then he said to them, "So give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (Matthew 22:21).
4. Dare to speak out the truth. God wants us to submit to the existing government. But when the leaders issue wrong policies, then we have to take the attitude of the apostles when they were not allowed to preach the gospel: "Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than human beings!" (Acts 5:29). Many Christians are worried that America will become more liberal under the new leader and leave Christian values, and this is true. In his first speech, one of the ministers that Biden chose, Pete Buttigieg, introduced his' husband." Abortion will be more accessible and will be financed by taxpayers. Children in public schools will receive teachings that are contrary to the moral values based on the Bible.
But José Horacio Gomez, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, responded well. On the day of Biden's inauguration, he prayed "that God grant him wisdom and courage to lead this great nation and that God helps him to meet the tests of these times, to heal the wounds caused by this pandemic, to ease our intense political and cultural divisions, and to bring people together with renewed dedication to America's founding purposes, to be one nation under God committed to liberty and equality for all." But on the other hand, he also rebuked Biden: "I must point out that our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender, ... Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences."
As Christians, we must have the courage to speak out the truth and criticize government policies that are not in accordance with God's word. God wants us to be a light amid this increasingly dark world and become salt for our environment so that it does not get more and more corrupt. As an example of something I did, when the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, I wrote a response titled, "How Should We Respond To The Supreme Court Justices' Decision Biblically?" and sent it to SermonCentral.com (a website for preachers) to share in voicing the truth of God's word. It's a small thing, but I'm trying to do something.
Let us be as God wants. Let us respect the new government and pray that God will give them wisdom and hearts that fear Him. Let us support what is good and have the courage to speak out against what is not, despite the risks we have to take. May this country, founded on July 4, 1776, based on the values of Bible truth by its founders, continue to apply these values so that God is pleased to bless America.
