How To Vote Like A Christian #1
Right out of High School I went to college and took all my records with me. I was particularly fond of a guy named Larry Norman—he’s called the grandfather of Christian Rock. Part Bob Dylan, part Rolling Stones, all Jesus Freak Hippy. My roommate had grown up in Virginia, just outside of D.C. His dad was a former pastor but had a government job now.
One day I was playing the song “The Great American Novel” and my roommate kinda lost his mind. It’s a political protest song. It has the lyrics:
“And your money says in God we trust,
But it's against the law to pray in school;
You say we beat the Russians to the moon,
And I say you starved your children to do it.
You say all men are equal, all men are brothers,
Then why are the rich more equal than others?
Don't ask me for answers, I've only got one:
That a man leaves his darkness when he follows the Son.”
My dorm mate was like, “those lyrics are ridiculous, do you know how many technological innovations came about because of the space program?” He proceeded to lecture me on the finer details of the Republican platform circa 1982.
It would be another four years until Rush Limbaugh would begin bringing conservative politics to the masses but eighteen-year-old Frankie, son of a United Mine Worker, was about to have his mind expanded.
Some of you have told me you’re not really sure what to think about this “How To Vote Like A Christian” message series. What could possibly go wrong? Ha.
Most everyone is already completely dug in on who they’re going to vote for. I get that. I think it’s important though, to think clearly about what being a faithful citizen should look like. Meaning, approaching our citizenship as a person of faith.
There are four big ideas I want us to cover in these three messages:
Our Faith Must Not Be Compartmentalized.
We are 1st and Foremost Citizens of Heaven before we are Americans.
Our main vocation as a citizen of heaven is to be salt and light in whatever nation we find ourselves temporary residents.
God Judges Nations based on their leaders and laws.
Politics The Roman world of the early church was every bit as obsessed with politics as we are. The word “politics” comes from the Greek word “polis” which means “city/state”—so politics means the way cities and states are governed.
Think about it this way: the world is full of all kinds of problems. Everyone sees the problems, everyone knows they need to be dealt with one way or another. “Politics” is the process of pinpointing the source of the problems and proposing solutions.
Sometimes I hear Christians say the church shouldn’t get messed up in politics—shouldn’t be concerned with politics. Hmm. So the people of God, who claim to know the Creator of all things, the ones who believe the will of God is revealed to mankind in Jesus Christ—these are the people who should ignore the problems of their city and state, and excuse themselves from proposing solutions? This makes sense to who?
We’re not supposed to compartmentalize our faith. Not supposed to hide it in our sock drawer and only bring it out on Sunday morning when we come to Church.
Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. … “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” Mathew 5:13-15
Does that sound like we’re supposed to keep our nose out of solving the problems of the world around us? I don’t think so. We’re actually commanded to be a blessing to the city, state and nation where we live. We are not to hide in the isolation of our church sanctuaries and just pray for the world to end.
We have to pray and think deeply about how to make the world we live in a better place.
Micah was a prophet in the Old Testament who lived in a tough time. Israel had gone through a civil war and split into two kingdoms. His preaching railed against both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. He calls the faithful to lead their families according to God’s commandments, he calls the priests and the kings to lead the cities and the nations in the ways of the LORD.
Micah 6:6-9
“What can we bring to the Lord?
Should we bring him burnt offerings?
Should we bow before God Most High
with offerings of yearling calves?
Should we offer him thousands of rams
and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children
to pay for our sins?
No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Fear the Lord if you are wise!”
You might think that because Micah was talking to Bible people back in the olden days that their problems weren’t as weird and wacky and wicked as our problems. I mean, look at us, we have leaders we can’t trust. We have attacks on our freedom to worship. We have abortion on demand. Gender confusion. We have economic problems, infectious disease, racism, war—you might think our problems are more complicated than theirs were. But you’d be wrong.
The problems of the world don’t change much. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
The northern kingdom, with its capital in Samaria didn’t want its citizens to travel to the true Temple in Jerusalem because that was in the Southern kingdom of Judah. Politics. So they made their own places of worship. You remember the whole Golden Calf incident from Moses and the Ten Commandments? Well, they didn’t seem to remember that, so they put giant golden calves on the altars of these new temples. And if two altars are good, 2,000 would be better, right? Make it convenient for people to worship. And not just YAHWEH, not just the LORD, they set up altars to worship all kinds of other gods.
The northern kingdom made it against the law for their citizens to go to Jerusalem, which was in the southern kingdom, and worship at the Temple the way God had commanded them. Neat trick, eh?
But the southern kingdom of Judah got in on the action, too. They also set up places to worship all the demonic gods. You could go and pray, you could also burn incense, or if you wanted to spice it up, you could have sex with male prostitutes or female prostitutes or both—as part of your weekly worship. If you were really serious, and really in a tight spot, you could bring one of your children and either burn them alive or slaughter them on the altar stone. Sometimes they did these kinds of things right there in the actual Temple in Jerusalem.
Micah let the kings and the priests and the people know that God wasn’t pleased. What God thought about all those things—what they needed to do about it.
He said, “the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Fear the Lord if you are wise!” Micah 6:8-9
They needed to tear down those false altars. They needed to stop the practice of sacrificing their children in the hopes that it would bring prosperity and a better life. They needed to put an end to temple prostitution and start doing what was right.
They needed to do the same thing we need to do, “Fear the Lord, if we are wise.”
Because if they didn’t, God was going to deal with them harshly.
God Judges Nations Micah was a faithful man of God. He wasn’t the only one, though. There were many other faithful, God-fearing people who loved God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. There were many merciful, humble people who loved their neighbor as themselves as much as it was possible. There were many faithful people of God who did not sacrifice their children or engage in false worship or bow their knee to false gods. But they were part of a wicked nation, and here’s the deal: God judges nations. He did then and He does now.
Individual believers might be faithful, they might be saved from God’s ultimate judgement at the end of time, but they will still be subject to the judgement of the nation where they live.
He judges nations based on their leaders. Their kings, their priests, their prophets—their presidents and governors and pastors. Nations. Not just Israel and Judah and Samaria and Jerusalem. But Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome—and yes, the United States of America.
Remember Jonah? The Old Testament prophet who didn’t want to go to Nineveh and tell them to repent—because he was afraid if he warned them that they might actually do it and then God wouldn’t destroy them? This is the guy who spent three days in the belly of a great fish.
Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. These people were as pagan and wicked as they come. Well, God finally gets Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach the shortest, lamest sermon in the history of great revivals. He just says, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
So the king of Nineveh put on sackcloth, told everyone to put on sackcloth, and pray to the LORD that He would have mercy. They stopped their evil ways and their violence. And much to the disappointment of Jonah, God heard them and held off His judgement.
Jonah 3:10
“When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.”
Nations Rise And Fall For a while, Jonah’s little revival bought them about 150 years. Nineveh was eventually crushed by Babylon in 600 BC. Babylon was destroyed 100 years later by the Persians. The Persians were destroyed by the Greeks, the Greeks by the Romans. Kingdoms come and kingdoms go. You know what God’s Word tells us about the rise and fall of nations? That it’s His judgement. He judges nations based on whether their leaders and their laws are according to His commandments or not.
So let me ask you a question: How are you feeling about the leaders and laws of the United States of America? How much longer do you think we’ve got before God’s done with this silliness? Think we can get them to put on sackcloth and repent?
The Kingdom of Heaven As Christians, our primary citizenship is the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus taught about the Kingdom of Heaven. He said His kingdom is not of this world. There have been people in the history of the United States that have confused this country with the Promised Land. They confused their faith with nationalism. We’re not supposed to do that. We want to be a blessing to the city and state that we live in, but our hope is not here. We are citizens of the kingdom of heaven.
Which is good because we’re told in 2 Peter that all the nations of the earth are going to be burned up—all of them—in the end, before the New Heavens and the New Earth of the new creation are established. When Jesus returns.
2nd Peter 3:1-5 is a very sobering message, Peter says,
“This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.
Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”
They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.
Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.
And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.”
So, how should Christians vote? We should vote like we believe our king is coming back. We don’t get to sit on the sidelines and pretend like politics are someone else’s problem.
God doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed, He wants everyone to repent. He is being slow in His anger. He is patiently holding back His judgement. What did Jonah say to the Assyrians? “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
What would He say to America?
This is what He says to you—as a believer in Jesus, you have heard the Gospel. God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus so that anyone who believes in Him would be saved. You have looked into the mirror of the Gospel and found reflected back is the shocking image of a beloved child of God. Your country may be a mess but He loves you, forgives you, pardons you and offers you eternal salvation. So now that you’re saved, now that you’re loved—man, you’ve got to go and make a difference in the world. Let your light shine. Be the salt of the earth, the light of the world.
Like Jonah, you’ve got to let your voice be heard. One of the places God is calling you to serve Him is in the voting booth.
That song “The Great American Novel” has another line that my roommate really hated, it says “I wonder who would lead us if none of us would vote.”
If God’s people don’t make their voice heard, whose people do you think are going to have the say? If God’s people don’t choose the direction of this country, whose people are going to step up and make those choices for us?
Next week I’m going to talk about a couple of the biggest issues that are on the ballot and on my heart as I see people grasping for control of our country. Spoiler alert: they’re not new issues.
Meanwhile, I want to encourage you to seek the Lord on behalf of this nation. Take your calling as a citizen of this country seriously:
1. Fast and Pray. Give up a meal and devote that time to prayer. Family prayer, solitary prayer, whatever works for you. Pray that God will have mercy on our nation and incline our leaders to humble themselves and fear Him.
2. Minimize your news and social media intake. It’s not helping you. News and social media are designed to make you angry and afraid—you need to cultivate peace instead. Spend that time in God's Word so you know what He actually wants for His people and from His people.
3. Avoid talking about politics in a poisonous way. It's become like a national religion, like a reality TV soap opera. Change the subject. Talk about things that are true, noble, right, things that are pure, lovely, admirable—find things that are excellent or praiseworthy—talk about those things: family, faith, hopes, dreams. Encourage people. Be kind and gentle, even with people you disagree with.
Pray that no matter what happens in this election, God will be glorified and His people will be faithful. Pray that God will have mercy on us.
You have a King and a Kingdom. AMEN