VOTING FOR VICES
Matthew 5:13-16
INTRODUCTION: In 1995 Clay Shiver, a 6’2", 280 lb center for the Florida State Seminoles, was regarded as one of the nation’s best college football players. In fact one magazine wanted to name him to their preseason All-American Football Team. This would be a boon for his career. It would all but assure him a position in the upcoming NFL Draft and help him demand a multimillion dollar contract to play professional football. The problem was that the magazine that wanted to bestow this honor on him was Playboy. So, Shiver sat down with his team chaplain and prayerfully prepared a response. When he was informed that Playboy had indeed selected him to their All-American Team, Clay Shiver simply said, "No thanks." He flatly refused to accept the award. Later in an interview with Christian Reader magazine, Clay said that he turn it down because he did not want to bring any shame upon his family and he did not want to give anyone an excuse to purchase that magazine. He went on to quote Luke 12:48 which says, "To whom much is given, of him much is required." And he finished by saying, "I don’t want to let anyone down and number one on that list is God." Clay Shiver knew that he had to consider the influence he has as a Christian and a star athlete as well as the responsibility that comes along with it. In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus pleads with his followers to consider the depth and the magnitude of their influence in the world. READ TEXT Later on, the apostle Paul expounds upon this in Philippians 2:15 by saying that Christians should shine like stars in the universe while living in the midst of a crooked and perverse society. Now, I’ve said all this in order to say that we need to be mindful of our influence in our local society and the weighty responsibility it brings. And let me tell you folks our influence, and our responsibility, as Christians must affect every aspect of our lives; no matter what it is. One area that has come increasingly under fire is the Christians place in government. Yet, the Bible tells us over and over again that the government exists by the grace of God to care for His people, that His people must pray for their government, and that as His people we must render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and by so doing bring Him honor and glory. That includes the decisions we make at the polls. On November 5, we will be asked to make some decisions concern a number of important things, two of which we as Christians must not fail to make the right, Godly, Christian decision.
I. LIQUOR BY THE DRINK
A. It amazes me when people see the word wine in the Bible how they immediately equate it with the right to drink alcoholic beverages. Yes they did drink wine in the 1st century, but it was greatly different from what we call wine today.
1. Wine, as they called it back then, was a form of fermented grape juice, but it was always highly watered down. In fact so much so that it was rarely more than 1 to 2% alcoholic in content.
2. God’s people did not partake of intoxicating drink if they intended to remain faithful to God and retain their reputation within their society. Anything more than ceremonial wine, the highly watered down kind, was considered sinful and unclean.
3. Therefore, it is a huge theological jump to go from diluted, ceremonial wine to Vodka and Jack Daniels. In fact you cannot make such a jump in reasoning and have any validity at all. It is just flat wrong to assume that because they drank watered down, aged grape juice that we can go out and consume highly intoxicating alcoholic beverages.
B. In fact strong drink was always considered an abomination and a sin with the people of God and God Himself.
1. Isaiah 28:7,8 – How it looks to God when His people drink
2. I Samuel 1:13-16 – How it looked to God’s people to be accused of such
3. Romans 13:13
4. I Corinthians 6:10 – those who will not inherit God’s Kingdom; Galatians 5:21 – acts of sinful flesh, will not inherit God’s Kingdom
5. Isaiah 5:22,23 – It removes ones mind from God & causes one to exalt sin, wickedness and evil
6. Leviticus 10:1-3, 8-10 – Were Nadab and Abihu drinking?
C. Did you know that alcohol accounts for over 40% of the traffic fatalities nationwide, that some 513,000 people are injured every year in traffic accidents because of alcohol (that’s almost 1 a minute every day). In fact, within the State of Tennessee alone, traffic fatalities have been on the increase for the past 7 years to the point that in 2001 we had a 43% fatality rate. Alcohol also contributes to social violence more often than any other substance and cost more taxpayer dollars than any other violent crime. Doesn’t common sense tell you that we have enough problems here in McMinnville with Methamphetamine manufacturing and abuse to add more fuel to the fire of our social collapse in the form of alcohol by the drink. To do so, and know better is maybe even more sinful than partaking of it.
II. THE STATE-WIDE LOTTERY REFERENDUM
A. Let’s get one thing clear; a lottery is an organized form of gambling. Nothing more; nothing less, and the ways people attempt to justify a lottery and gambling never fails to astonish me. People say things like, "Life is a gamble. A farmer planting a crop each year is a gamble. Every time you drive a car it is a gamble. Buying a used car is a gamble."
1. Folks, that is as far from the truth as it gets. Leaving home in a car is a risk. Making a wager on that risk is gambling. There is a certain amount of risk inherent in every activity we undertake, but the mere presence of risk does not make it a gamble.
2. Gambling is an altogether different thing. When gambling exists someone else suffers. Lost in the glitter of the multi-million dollar winner are all the millions of losers. The winner always wins at the expense of the loser and that is hardly the same thing as planting a crop every year.
3. Gambling, and a lottery is gambling, is nothing more that a legalized way to steal money from the poor and the gullible. It is a poor mans tax designed to do nothing more than foster false hopes while draining their pockets dry.
B. Our interest must be, how does God feel about all this and what does His Word have to say about it. I think if we are honest and sincere in our pledge to walk with God, the answers we will find will surprise us and convict us as to where we ought to stand on this issue.
1. Gambling violates God’s laws of Exchanging Money – Luke 14:12-14 - expecting a return, Ephesians 4:28, II Thessalonians 3:10 – must work to earn a living, and usury applies here as well
2. Gambling is the Love of Money – I Timothy 6:9-11 – there is a reason the KJV calls is "filthy lucre"
3. Gambling is Covetousness and Greed – It is the attempt to gain what someone else has with little or no personal effort or investment, Exodus 20:17, Proverbs 1:10-19, Isaiah 56:11,12
4. Gambling Demonstrates Dissatisfaction with God’s Provision – Remember what we said about Sinful Excess? Matthew 6:26, Philippians 4:12
C. A lot has been said about a state-wide lottery bringing in more money for education. Just ask the state of Florida about that. They have seen an increase of 650, 000 students and the Education Fund has lost some $12.8 billion since the lottery was instituted there. In Tunica, MS where gambling was legalized about 10 years ago or so, which also made liquor by the drink freely available, the local Police Chief said arrests had gone up 500%. Also the number of court cases filed in Tunica County, Mississippi, went from 689 in 1991, the year before casinos began operating there, to 11,100 in just 5 years. Yeah, the lottery will bring revenue into our state, through more jails, more judges, more policemen, etc.
CONCLUSION: There is a lot more that can be said about both of these issues. You can go to madd.org and afa.net to get all the information your heart desires about the evils of liquor and gambling. The question is how will our light shine before God when we are put to the test on November 5? Invitation
