Why Canadian Christians Vote On June 28th, 2004

WHY CANADIAN CHRISTIANS VOTE ON JUNE 28th, 2004

June 28th tomorrow is decision time in Canada. I wonder who will be in power. Given the tight race between the Liberals and the Conservatives, as experts inform us, it seems we may have a minority government. But I will boldly predict this… There will be a majority government! How do I know? Do I have a crystal ball? Can I tell the future? No! Then, how can I predict this? Because of the majority of ONE! GOD! No matter what happens, what the results are, God RULES! He will be the One calling the shots, looking after the earth even before there was a Kyoto Accord, He is the One who will be in power.

The Bible says:

“…Only God can give authority to anyone, and he puts these rulers in their places of power… After all, they are God’s servants, and it is their duty to help you.” Romans 13:1-4 (CEV)

Remember this word was written in a time when the governing authorities were Romans. Just watched on CBC the other day the movie called “Spartacus.” It gave me a picture of how cruel those ruling Romans were. The slaves that dare to rebel against them were crucified on their highways, for everyone to see. Each rebel was tortured slowly to death, hung on a cross and no mercy was shown. Yet it is to these same Romans, that the Bible says it is God who gave them the power to rule, and they are “God’s servants.” To think that way in those days must be quite a mind-blowing thing. Romans as the servants of God, yeah, right! One political commentator noted this “Politicians may not know it, but they are on a divine mission to create a bit of heaven on Earth, which is why the best churches in our land give public prayers from the pulpit for our government.” Their God-ordained duty is really to “HELP YOU”

When the Apostle Peter wrote “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men…” (1 Peter 2:13,NIV) it was in the context of the brutal rule of the Emperor Nero who persecuted Christians. Yet the word of God does not say, go and organize a bloody coup, rebelled, and go kill off those God-haters. Instead, Peter tells them to do this “Show respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king” (1 Peter 2:17). Remember it was God who put Joseph to govern Egypt to help Israel continue to exist. It was God who put Esther in place as an influential Queen to ensure God’s people did not go through a planned genocide. It was God who put folks like Deborah (Judges 5:1-7), Gideon (Judges 6:11-14), Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1-19), David (1 Samuel 16:1-13), Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1:1-11), and Daniel (Daniel 1:4-6; 18-21)(5) in places of political power to help God’s people.

Given the fact that God rules that He places people He chooses to be in power, what’s the use of us casting a vote? Did not God’s word tell us this to submit ourselves to every authority?” What does the authorities want people in Canada to do on June 28th, 2004? Shall we heed the call to vote? Granted, that God did not say we have to vote in a democracy, but does not God’s word say for us to do good.

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be ready to do whatever is good” (Titus 3:1, NIV)

Are we ready to do good, make our vote count, to elect a responsible government, who will be God’s servants, to help us live better lives. If past elections are a trend, there will not be a whole lot of people in Canada who think their vote can do any good.

61%! That’s the percentage of registered voters who actually voted in the Canadian Federal elections in 2000. If Larry LeDuc, a University of Toronto political science professor is right, there will be a low voter turnout for this June 28 elections. He says we will slip to 58 per cent, an all-time low. Is he right? His numbers reflect what he sees as voter apathy especially among those under age 25 years. Apparently, according to a June 20, 2004 CTV report, LeDuc says "Politics is simply not part of their world. They’re not being pulled into it as previous generations were. The same CTV news report says “Like a dripping faucet, Canada is losing its electorate.” Carleton University professor Jon Pammett, agreed with stating that young voters are ignoring politics in greater numbers than ever before.

Yet according to Elections Canada as reported on last Wednesday (June 23), it seems there is an increase of 60% voter turnout in the advanced polls compared to the figures of advanced polls of 2000. More than 1.2 million Canadians had already cast a ballot! Will this mean a higher voter turnout tomorrow? No one knows but I know what we, as Christians must do. The Bible says: