The Christian And Government #2 - Voting - What, Why, And Who! Series

The Christian and Government

#2 ¡V Voting: Why, What, and Who!

Various Scriptures

May 30, 2004

Introduction

You have no doubt noticed by now that today¡¦s message is not about Memorial Day.

So before I move on to our topic for today, let me say that I do not intend for anyone to think that I do not believe in Memorial Day. I do. In fact, I appreciate Memorial Day way more than the ¡§Hallmark¡¨ holidays like Mother¡¦s Day and Father¡¦s Day.

But I think this message is timely, because we wouldn¡¦t be able to talk about things like this if it weren¡¦t for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.

And as we approach election season, and the election even being held on Tuesday, I think it¡¦s important that we discuss the issue of how to vote in a Biblically responsible manner.

This is kind of hard to do, because frankly, the Bible doesn¡¦t tell us who to vote for, and it doesn¡¦t pretend to. Democratic republics weren¡¦t in existence in Bible times like they are now.

But brave men and women throughout our history have laid down their lives, and are still doing so today because we believe not only in freedom, but also what that entails in our form of government.

But the fact remains that God has some standards for leaders of people, and we need to be aware of them. Also, we need to be sure that we vote in ways that seek to promote Biblical principles.

So how do we do that? How do we get beyond the rhetoric of the candidates and even of the church and really vote in a Biblical manner?

Let me suggest three ways that we can do this, and then at the end, I¡¦m going to tell you who I think you should vote for.

Believe me, you¡¦re going to be surprised. Let¡¦s get going. The first way to make sure you vote in a Biblical manner is to¡K

„Ï Learn to think Biblically about government.

Review from last week:

God ordained civil governments.

Romans 13:1 ¡V

The authorities that exist have been established by God.

Isaiah 40:23 ¡V

He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

Government has two main functions, Biblically:

1 Peter 2:14 ¡V

(Government leaders) are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.

Civil protection.

Military protection.

Christians have four main roles to play in government:

1. Understand it.

Learn the processes involved in voting, passing legislation, and whatever.

2. Participate in it.

Vote, be a candidate, a volunteer for a campaign, or whatever. But get involved.

Former Senator Paul Simon from Illinois, during a talk at a university, indicated that the word "idiot" comes from Latin words that mean ¡¦someone who does not get involved in civic life¡¦.

Contributed by: Carla Powell (SermonCentral.com)

3. Obey it.

Spent a good bit of time last week discussing the fact that God has ordained civil governments and that we are to obey them, as long as they don¡¦t command us to go against the known commands of God.

4. Pray for it.

We also talked about the fact that we are to pray for our government, that God would move in the hearts of those in leadership to love and follow Him, and to follow Biblical wisdom in their decision-making.

We should also pray for their protection against enemies seeking to take their life.

„Ï Exercise your right to vote.

Our government allows us to have a say in what happens and who serves us in government.

To not take that basic constitutional right, in my opinion, is inexcusable.

We are one of the few countries in the world that have the freedom in electing leaders and deciding issues.

You know, some countries claim to have elections, but they are a farce. They even had elections in Iraq while Saddam Hussein was in power.

But guess what the election results were? You guessed it ¡V 100% for Hussein. Tell me that was a fair and honest election. You can bet that anyone who would have tried to run against him would have found himself either in a torture chamber or a grave.

Central and South American elections are filled with fraud and voter intimidation.

But here in the United States, we have the best political and election system in the world. Is it perfect? Hardly ¡V people are still fuming about what happened in Florida four years ago, to which I say, ¡§Get a life and move on! It¡¦s a new election already!¡¨

If you are not registered to vote, take care of that this week. It¡¦s too late to register in time to vote in Tuesday¡¦s election, but you will be able to vote in November.