{"id":1265,"date":"2012-10-06T20:46:27","date_gmt":"2012-10-06T20:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/october-qwhy-christians-voteq\/"},"modified":"2014-02-02T08:00:04","modified_gmt":"2014-02-02T08:00:04","slug":"october-qwhy-christians-voteq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/october-qwhy-christians-voteq\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Christians Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good Christian publications abound at this time with good advice for believers during a national election time.\u00a0 It is generally (and rightly) believed that Christians in a free society should vote, speak their point of view, and even become involved in the political process where possible.\u00a0 None of these is wrong for the Christian living in America.\u00a0 We are not breaking any laws in doing so, nor are we violating any Scripture, nor acting in any way immoral.\u00a0 A Christian citizen should feel free to do whatever is Scriptural, legal, and moral.\u00a0 Consternation comes for the believer when forced to make a choice which is truly the lesser of two evils.\u00a0 Can I vote for a Mormon to be president of the country in which I live because he is the better, though not the perfect, choice?\u00a0 Could my parents vote for a Catholic?\u00a0 Could, and did, my ancestors vote for a Mason?\u00a0 Unless we have some theocratic view of the church in the age of grace, the answer should always be \u201cyes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The British, though steeped in good evangelical preaching and belief, had to work hard at separating church and state because they did have a state church even though dissenters would not worship in it.\u00a0 Tony Sargent, in writing the biography of the great British evangelical, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, said of his sermons during WWII, \u201cThey remain a pattern of how preachers should teach the Bible when their country is passing through critical times without resorting to a patriotism which abuses Scripture in the misplaced interests of nationalism.\u201d\u00a0 That is an even greater challenge for us in America because our Christian heritage rightly separated church and state and yet left us also with a great tradition of Christian participation and influence in our free governing process.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have enjoyed, at least up until now, the freedom to speak of specifically Christian virtues in our governance.\u00a0 Anyone who has toured the national monuments in Washington D.C. has to be amazed, and blessed, by the immersion of Biblical texts within the government halls and upon the national structures.\u00a0 Yet we have no Biblical promise for the church in the age of grace that it will always be this way.\u00a0 Indeed, more believers than not have lived without religious freedom and yet have carried on the Christian life and commission in better ways than we.\u00a0 We won\u2019t have any ticket to the front row at the Bema Seat of Christ just because we are Americans.\u00a0 We may find ourselves far behind the greatest of Christians who come from much more difficult circumstances than ours.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this is a two-edged sword.\u00a0 The loss of Christian virtue in America may come largely, even mostly, because Christians have forgotten to live as Christians.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean involved in government necessarily, but just living a Christian testimony and practicing real Christianity, letting the church be the church in a wicked and perverse generation.\u00a0 At the same time, however, we understand the signs of the times.\u00a0 We ought to remain as good at reading those as we are at reading the signs of the (political) sky.\u00a0 We know where this world is headed and that is down, not up.\u00a0 So who knows, whether we are \u201ccome to the kingdom for such a time as this?\u201d\u00a0 Are we willing to bless our sovereign God in that time as well?<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet on the way down God\u2019s sovereign road, we may be at a time when our leaders are not as \u201cChristian\u201d as at a previous time.\u00a0 We may be fighting off total anarchy or totalitarianism in a once Christian nation.\u00a0 We may have no other choice than the lesser of two evils.\u00a0 God did not tell us to honor only believing kings, but rather to pray for them that we might lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the church in a nation?<\/span><\/h2>\n

The universal church is made up of believers in the world.\u00a0 Jesus is building His church until the rapture when He will call her home.\u00a0 The church exists from Pentecost until the rapture and exists wherever believers are in the world.\u00a0 Every believer has the same New Testament and the same obligation to follow it.\u00a0 We are to give unto Caesar the things that belong to him, including honor, taxes, prayers, and obedience.\u00a0 Of course, there have been those times when believers had to give unto God things that contradicted what Caesar wanted, and they did, sometimes to their detriment. Believers are both citizens of an earthly country and citizens of a heavenly country.\u00a0 We have our feet in both worlds. <\/span><\/p>\n

Believers are pilgrims and strangers on the earth.\u00a0 We don\u2019t expect things to go our way very often and when they do we rejoice and thank God for His goodness.\u00a0 Such has been the history of America for most of the time.\u00a0 There is no perfect nation because nations are made up of sinners.\u00a0 Some nations are much better than others, especially when they will apply Biblical principles to life and government.\u00a0 But believers will always have to put up with some degree of unbiblical and anti-biblical attitudes.\u00a0 Our nation is not our church.\u00a0 It is a mixed multitude where the percentage of true believers will always be woefully low and we should expect sinners to act and think like sinners.<\/span><\/p>\n

The local church is where the New Testament places most of its emphasis, showing that the local church is God\u2019s divine agency for the accomplishing of His will in the world.\u00a0 Though the government is also His agency, again, it is a mixed agency to govern sinners.\u00a0 The local church is made up of true believers and has an inspired constitution and possesses a divine Teacher who applies those truths to our lives.\u00a0\u00a0 Local churches will exist wherever believers exist because the New Testament commands us to gather ourselves together and commit ourselves to one another.\u00a0 The local church has a divine commission and though existing in the world, must keep its focus on eternal things.\u00a0 Our real citizenship is in heaven from whence we look for a Savior and a perfect kingdom.\u00a0 The local church must be the church, not government though that is a divine creation, not earthly families though those are divine creations.\u00a0 Rather, believers become the salt and light in all other organizations.\u00a0 Yes, the salt has to get out of the shaker and into the world, but it better be in the shaker first, or it will be mere sand and gravel in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

What is the best scenario for believers?<\/span><\/h2>\n

That question has to be asked from both God\u2019s perspective and ours.\u00a0 His ways are not always our ways.\u00a0 It is easy for us to say that God brought persecution to the early church so that they were forced to go into all the world and preach the gospel.\u00a0 But my father-in-law (Peter Slobodian), a Ukrainian born in the Soviet Union in the 1920s, though thankful for all that God did for those believers, never thought it was better for his people to live under such an atheistic regime.\u00a0 Who really wants <\/span>persecution?\u00a0 His heart rejoiced when the iron curtain fell and the gospel could be freely preached in his homeland.\u00a0 Is the gospel more effective now than it was then?\u00a0 Only eternity will tell.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact of the matter is that believers will always do God\u2019s will no matter what circumstances they find themselves in.\u00a0 This may cost them persecution in some places or it may allow them to be political leaders in others.\u00a0 History has shown that Christians have been the best citizens in every situation.\u00a0 We don\u2019t steal, kill, slander, or break laws unless those laws force us to disobey God.\u00a0 The American experiment has been so good for Christians and their churches because its law actually forbids the government to interfere in the church\u2019s business or to establish a rival religion.\u00a0 The civil authority can\u2019t use the church to direct its affairs, and the church can\u2019t use the civil authority to enforce its beliefs.\u00a0 Our history has shown what a blessing this is to the churches, the country, and the world.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

God has commissioned the local church to evangelize and this we must do regardless of what country we are in or what the repercussions of that action may be.\u00a0 We praise those in our history who have suffered for the sake of the gospel though we still would rather not have to have it that way.\u00a0 Because we know it is better to have a true separation of church and state, we also know that means there must be freedom for all citizens to proselytize as well.\u00a0 The cults, the false religions, Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, all must have the same rights as Christians to promote their faith and try to win converts to it.\u00a0 That is fine with us because we believe that the Word of God powered by the Holy Spirit of God will always be the most effective in the arena of ideas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Can we live with unbelieving leaders?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Of course we can.\u00a0 The New Testament was written in such a situation and Biblical texts instruct us in how we should handle ourselves while living under unbelievers.\u00a0 There is no instruction to cause insurrection or even to protest or to be involved in the political process.\u00a0 There are occasional references to believers who held public office just as there are examples of believers who were soldiers.\u00a0 Those options are left open for believers.\u00a0 But the New Testament instructs us to be law abiding citizens, pay our taxes, give honor to whom honor is due, and go about living our faith with whatever results and repercussions may come our way.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

The fact is that we have had few believing presidents in America.\u00a0 Russell D. Moore, dean of the school of theology at Southern Seminary recently said,<\/span><\/p>\n

So many evangelicals want to go back and claim Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln and John Adams as orthodox, evangelical Christians.\u00a0 The problem with that [is that] Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were great men who did fantastic things for our country, but once you start claiming them as orthodox evangelical Christians, you\u2019re not elevating those men, you\u2019re downgrading the Gospel into something that fits whatever they happen to hold.\u00a0 And you wind up with [modern-day] politicians who learn the language of evangelical faith in order to use it, in order to manipulate people into supporting them.2<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

Now there may be a legitimate question as to the true faith of a man like Lincoln, but Moore\u2019s point is well taken.\u00a0 If every leader who ever claimed to be a Christian really was a Christian, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d want to be one.\u00a0 There are times when it is fashionable for a politician to be a Christian and times when it\u2019s not.\u00a0 That, of course, is a poor reason to make that claim.\u00a0 Barack Obama claims to be a Christian; Bill Clinton belonged to a Southern Baptist church as did Jimmy Carter.\u00a0 None, however, have shown much evidence of true Christian faith other than their own verbal testimony.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Can we vote for an unbeliever?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Of course we can.\u00a0 A vote for a president is not a vote for a pastor.\u00a0 A vote in a civil election is not a vote in a local church.\u00a0 In the one you are participating as a citizen of an earthly country, in the other you are voting as a citizen of heaven.\u00a0 As a citizen of a country I do a lot of things, choosing the best out of a number of poor options.\u00a0 My kids may have to go to a poor school because it is still better than the alternative.\u00a0 I may have to live with a home-owners association that is ungodly and poorly run but I am forced to because I live in the neighborhood.\u00a0 I probably will vote for the president of it though he\/she is not a great choice.\u00a0 I may have to choose a local politician or a national politician in the same way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Noel Smith, founder of the Baptist Bible Tribune, speaking at the Fundamental Baptist Congress in 1971, said,<\/span><\/p>\n

Christians should not take the position that we should have none but a Christian government.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t want to live under a government by preachers.\u00a0 In the first place, half of them would hang the other half before sundown\u2014for the glory of God.\u00a0 And I suspect I would be on the hanging end.\u00a0 The best Christian on earth may know nothing about the philosophy of civil government.\u00a0 In government Christians have failed about as often as non-Christians.<\/span><\/p>\n

Benjamin Franklin wasn\u2019t a Christian.\u00a0 Thomas Jefferson wasn\u2019t a Christian.\u00a0 William Howard Taft was a Unitarian.\u00a0 Mr. Taft wasn\u2019t one of our great Presidents.\u00a0 William Jennings Bryan said that he went into office by a majority and went out with universal consent.\u00a0 But Mr. Taft was an able Secretary of War, a wise administrator, and he was one of the great Chief Justices.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

William Howard Taft was an American.\u00a0 He believed in and loved his country.\u00a0 He was a man of principle.\u00a0 He believed that the alternative to constitutionalism was exactly what we have today\u2014anarchy.<\/span><\/p>\n

I will vote for such men of character and patriotism, whether they are Christians or not.3<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

When the present presidential campaign started, I wished for a Dr. Frankenstein candidate, i.e., the brains of a Newt Gingrich, the looks of a Mitt Romney, the wit of a Herman Cain, the values of a Rick Santorum, and so forth.\u00a0 But the real world isn\u2019t the TV world.\u00a0 I have to choose between a man who is a Mormon and a man who is a black liberation anti-colonialist.\u00a0 I am going to choose the Mormon.\u00a0 Now I despise what the Mormon church teaches about my Lord Jesus Christ\u2014that he is the blood brother of Satan and is only progressing toward being like God the Father.\u00a0 And I hate the social gospel of liberation theology and the socialism of anti-colonialism.\u00a0 But one man, is bent on taking this country into the dark ages of European socialism and the other is not.\u00a0 One man looks at Christianity as part of the problem of social inequality and the other does not.\u00a0 One man will make it more difficult for the gospel of Jesus Christ to be taken around the world and the other will not.\u00a0 One man\u2019s belief affects this country greatly, the other man\u2019s does not.\u00a0 And, one of these two men will be the next president of the United States in which I and my family live.\u00a0 As a citizen of this earthly country, I can make a good choice for the lesser of the two poor choices.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

And So . . . .<\/span><\/h2>\n

I am not espousing any imperatives for Christians when it comes to civil accountability.\u00a0 I do believe I have an obligation as a citizen of an earthly country to do what I can for the glory of God and the proclamation of the gospel.\u00a0 In this election cycle that means voting for one of two non-Christians.\u00a0 But one choice is better for the glory of God and for the gospel than the other.\u00a0 That choice seems obvious to me.\u00a0 Recently, Kevin Bauder wrote,<\/span><\/p>\n

If God held kings accountable in biblical times, then He certainly must hold presidents, prime ministers, parliaments, congresses, and courts accountable today.\u00a0 More than that, he must hold individual citizens responsible to execute their political responsibilities rightly, for in the long run, officials can govern only as the people allow.\u00a0 Even the unsaved are accountable, but Christians, who ought to understand God\u2019s design for nations, have a special responsibility.\u00a0 Even if they are a minority, they must use their influence within the public square to move their government as far as possible toward just policies\u2014and that means policies that are just as God understands justice.4<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI exhort therefore, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men:\u00a0 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.\u00a0 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior\u201d <\/span>(1 Tim. 2:1-3).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Notes:<\/span><\/address>\n
1. Tony Sargent, <\/span>The Sacred Anointing: The Preaching of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones <\/span>(Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1994) 164.<\/span><\/address>\n
2. Thanks to the <\/span>Baptist Bible Tribune<\/span> for reprinting a panel discussion of seminary speakers hosted by Southern Seminary. Original source was Baptist Press, 2012.<\/span><\/address>\n
3. Noel Smith, \u201cThe Christian and Citizenship,\u201d <\/span>The Biblical Faith of Baptists<\/span>, Fundamental Baptist Congress of America, 1971, p. 106-107.<\/span><\/address>\n
4. Kevin Bauder, <\/span>Baptist Distinctives <\/span>(Schaumburg: Regular Baptist Books, 2012) 145.<\/span><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/address>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/address>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Good Christian publications abound at this time with good advice for believers during a national election time.\u00a0 It is generally (and rightly) believed that Christians in a free society should vote, speak their point of view, and even become involved in the political process where possible.\u00a0 None of these is wrong for the Christian living […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[139],"class_list":["post-1265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-democracy-government-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Christians Vote - Aletheia Baptist Ministries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/october-qwhy-christians-voteq\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Christians Vote - Aletheia Baptist Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Good Christian publications abound at this time with good advice for believers during a national election time.\u00a0 It is generally (and rightly) believed that Christians in a free society should vote, speak their point of view, and even become involved in the political process where possible.\u00a0 None of these is wrong for the Christian living […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/october-qwhy-christians-voteq\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Aletheia Baptist Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AletheiaBaptist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-06T20:46:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-02-02T08:00:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Book-Reviews-1024x1024.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rick Shrader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rick Shrader\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/october-qwhy-christians-voteq\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/october-qwhy-christians-voteq\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rick Shrader\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/#\/schema\/person\/588b75c574dc86d40cf5fb13774181b2\"},\"headline\":\"Why Christians Vote\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-06T20:46:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-02-02T08:00:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/october-qwhy-christians-voteq\/\"},\"wordCount\":2804,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Democracy \/ Government \/ Politics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/october-qwhy-christians-voteq\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/october-qwhy-christians-voteq\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/october-qwhy-christians-voteq\/\",\"name\":\"Why Christians Vote - 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