With election season upon us, many Christians are wondering who to vote for. Usually, one party tends to align with more conservative, Christian principles. This year that candidate appears to be far from the ideal candidate. There are other choices for president, but would voting for any of them make any impact in the election? Before you cast your vote, we should spend some time studying not only each candidate, but especially the Christian perspective on the role of the government. This first part will start there. Part two will discuss how a Christian should use his vote.
American Christians have a unique opportunity in the history of the world to have a major influence in choosing their government. Throughout history, Christians have found themselves under the rule of appointed kings and oppressive rulers. There has been nothing quite like the United States; where the people get to regularly choose their leaders and have a voice that can be used to make changes. If we don’t like how our country is run, we have the opportunity to vote for someone new; or even run for office ourselves. No Christian has ever had that freedom.
When deciding how to vote, we must first consider what we believe the role of government to be. We must also understand what our role as Christians in this country is to be. Nailing down these two points will help us understand how to use the unique opportunity of freedom we are presented with.
Not much is spoken of in the New Testament in regards to setting up a proper government. The Bible is not a political instruction manual. Most of the mentions of government address how Christians are to live under the authority structure they find themselves in. Romans 13, while addressing the importance of submission to the government, does provide us some insight into what the purpose of government.
Verse one states that all people in authority have been instituted by God. Every ruler, including the most wicked in history, was brought into power by the hand of God. Verse two continues to say, then, that if you rebel against the in place authorities, you rebel against what God has ordained. The following verses command us to pay the authorities monetarily and with respect and honor. Paul does not say how a proper government should handle taxes and revenue, just that these are appropriate and subjection to these provides for a peaceable, orderly society. In Luke 3:13, Jesus says that the tax collectors do have a right to collect revenue for the government, but they are not to cheat people out of more than what they owe.
What are some specific duties of the government that we should look to establish? Proverbs 8:15,16 suggest that God appoints rulers to exact justice. The word justice today has started to lose quite a bit of its original meaning. Today justice seems to mean that we feed hungry people, give money to poor people, and take care of the environment. The original meaning of the word (and the dictionary definition) is more akin to keeping order in society by holding people accountable for violating a law. Justice is not to favor one type of person over another. Special interest is to be given to those who are least able to protect themselves, however, sensitivity to the poor does not suggest the government is to show them favor either. “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly” (Lev. 19:15). At a basic level, the government is to provide order and safety to its citizens by curbing the immoral behavior of its citizens and those outside influences that infringe on the people’s natural, God-given rights. It is important then to determine what our rights are.
Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that our unalienable, God-given rights are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The founders of this country had a firm understanding of the biblical view of man and government. They knew that the role of the government isn’t to make everyone behave in a certain way or provide for the every need of the people. They felt that the government is to ensure that everyone has the right to live and to make their own choices on how to run their lives. The government is to simply provide safety and security in those freedoms. They knew that a group of sinful men would not be able to control every sinful decision of its people, so it was their responsibility to provide the freedoms and trust that the local governments and churches would work to provide order.
Especially important for us to consider is the amount of power the government has to provide direction for the country. Our founders understood that men were inherently sinful, and given too much power, they would exploit it for their own benefits. When the government was established, they balanced the powers between many different offices and provided checks on the power between the offices. It was set up so that one person would not be able to force his own will on the people contrary to the will of the majority. No matter who becomes president, he alone will not have the power to ruin this country.
Our country is not what is now popularly known as a democracy. A democracy is government directly by the majority. If the majority wanted sin, they could get it. Our country is a democratic republic. The majority choose representatives to lead them within the bounds of the constitution. The constitution even provides a check on the people’s representatives from legislating contrary to the basic rules laid out at the onset. If we want new laws we have to go through the constitutional means laid before us. Much of what our government does today and what we expect from our government is far beyond the bounds of the founders’ original intent for this nation.
What happens if the man that is elected is not the desired candidate? What are we to do as Christians? To keep us sane, we need to remember what our role as Christians is. We must remember that we are pilgrims (strangers, foreigners, aliens, sojourners) in this world. While we live in the United States, our citizenship is in heaven. No matter what happens in this country, prosperity or ruin, we have a placed reserved for us in heaven. While we work here for the benefit of others, our ultimate work is done for the kingdom of God with an eternal perspective. We are to live peaceably, in submission to the government where its commands do not oppose God’s law (Matthew 22:21, Romans 13, 1 Peter 2:17-25s), but focused on the mission to which all Christians have been called.
Currently, at our church, we have been encouraging everyone to memorize 2 Corinthians 5:20-21. These verses are a simple reminder of our primary mission in the world: “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ; certain that God is appealing through us, we plead on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God.’ He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Our role as Christians is to proclaim the gospel to lost, blind people. We are ambassadors of the God of the universe given the task to take the message of His kingdom to this world. Our primary mission is to get the word of God into the culture so people may repent of their sins and turn to the Savior. It is vital to understand that making new laws will not change people’s hearts. A Christian’s view on politics must be grassroots. We proclaim the gospel to individuals which changes hearts which creates new people who will pass good laws. Too many Christians put their hope in the government to do the work given to the church. Making good laws will not make good people. It is our duty to proclaim the gospel whether the leader of our country is Nero, Hilter, Bush, Obama or McCain.
So how does this influence our vote? An amazing privilege has been given to us to actually have a voice in who leads this country. What first century Christian wouldn’t have loved to have been given the right to choose to get Nero out of Rome? We must vote for the best candidates available to us who will protect our biblical liberties according to the law; and no matter who wins, we will get back to the business of sharing the gospel with our neighbors. We do not vote with the hope that our candidate will change the country and feel defeated spiritually if he doesn’t win. It is not our government’s responsibility to change the hearts of the people in the nation; God will do that as we are obedient to spread the gospel. No matter who wins and what laws are passed, we will continue to be foreigners in this world, pleading with people to turn from their sin and trust in Christ. It is the gospel that will change this country and if the majority becomes Christian again, godly leaders will result in this country where the leadership is simply a reflection of the people.
Happy Reformation Day everyone. I pray that your day is full of boldness for Christ as we proclaim to our neighbors the justification of sinners by faith in Christ. If you are wondering why I am not saying Happy Halloween instead of Reformation Day, take a few minutes to read this article for a reminder of what happened on this day 491 years ago.
