Story by Scotty Gray.
Wisconsin state representative, Joy Goeben shared a statistic which shows that 25 million Christians don’t vote. Sadly, these non-voters often base their decision on personality. If you believe that abortion is the taking of innocent life, but don’t like the personality of the candidate that is fighting for the life of the child, by not voting – you’ve just aided the candidate who supports abortion.
Politicians are flawed humans – just like you and me – and the further up the political ladder they go, the more compromises they are likely to make, and the more visible those flaws become.
Winston Churchill said, “many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time; but there is the broad feeling in our country that the people should rule, continuously rule, and that public opinion, expressed by all constitutional means, should shape, guide, and control the actions of ministers who are their servants and not their masters.”
Colossians 3:17 states: “…and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him.” This statement is not intended to mean that if you do something… but rather when you do something. As Christians, we are called to be active. “…do it all in the name of the lord Jesus” means that everything we do should represent Him. Our inactivity in championing godly values is in direct opposition to God’s values.
We are called to be in charge of our government – that’s quite a responsibility, do you take it seriously? So, are you willing to step up and do what you should? It’s going to take some work. Are you going to pray for those in office? – then you need to do a little research to know what to pray for. If you’re going to base your vote on the issues, you should probably find a voter’s guide to know what those issues are, and where the candidates stand. Educate others. Post on social media, help with a campaign, become a poll site worker.
Gary Hamrick, senior pastor at cornerstone chapel in Leesburg, Virginia, speaks to his congregation before elections to get them up-to-speed on their Christian responsibility when elections are being held. This is a condensed version of what he said. “If, as Christians, somehow you believe the lie that faith and politics don’t mix; that pastors should stay out of that, it’s just two divisive, then by your apathy and your reluctance, you are actually helping to advance the doctrine and dogma of other world religions and of secular humanism, to influence this nation, rather than the values and virtues of Christianity. That’s what’s happening. Wake up, they’re not asleep. Why are Christians asleep today when it comes to this? Now, the fact is that only in recent times have pastors kowtowed to political correctness and remain silent or indifferent about faith and politics, but it wasn’t always so. Dating back to the time of the American colonies, pastor’s boldly spoke out about the social issues of the day. They used to do it every year. For the first couple hundred years of American history, pastors would preach election sermons. I only get to bring these books out every four years, but I have two volumes of political sermons of the American founding era from 1730 to 1805. These sermons are what pastors used to do. They got up in their pulpits and talked to their congregation about the social issues and call out the politicians. The reason is because they wanted their folks to be biblically literate, so people could make an intelligent decision, based on their sanctified conscience, about the social issues and the political candidates and how they either did or did not align with the bible, which is the source of all truth. God has been at the center of our religious freedom, and faith and politics have been intertwined from the very beginning.
Note – The above sermon was edited for time, not content.
Christians should be involved in politics, as representatives of Christ we are to be, as the word Christian means, “little Christ’s,” working to bring humanity to the truth. Our Constitution is intended to protect American citizens from state control, not prevent us from participating in the political process. The most often misinterpreted piece of American correspondence, is a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist association in 1802, he wrote: “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and state.”
The statement, “Separation of church and state” is not in our Constitution, but, “building a wall of separation between church and state”, is. It intended dear brothers and sisters, to protect American citizens from state control, not prevent them from participating in the political process. So, take hold of your right and responsibility to vote. Although you may have many good excuses, you have no good reasons!
Editor’s note: Churches have fallen for the lie that the IRS will revoke their 501c3 status if they preach politics especially before an election. The rule reads: Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) all organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. But there is no prohibition against preaching about what makes for good or bad governance based on a Christian World View. That is not campaigning. The congregation should be smart enough to put together the inferences without having to name names.
Editors Note: The numbers very from source to source. Anywhere from 18 million to 40 million Christians don’t vote. Which number is correct is irrelevant. The bottom line is we have lost elections and handed Evil a blank check due to our apathy. It is time to cancel that check.
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