Monday, October 16, 2006
How To Vote Like A Christian?
Let's consider some scripture:
Then there is the question of "Who?" Well, I think the fact that slaves are instructed to submit to non-believing masters and believing masters in the same fashion indicates that religous faith is not an essential question when it comes to deciding who to vote for. From a practical standpoint, there have been bad elected officials that were Christians (Think Jimmy Carter) and good elected officials that were not, or only nominally so (think Ronald Reagan).
We do not endorse a religion by voting for an adherent to that religion for any office. What's more, save for the national level, actually save for President, how much do we ever know about the religion of any candidate. Ask yourself this - if it is wrong to vote for a XXX for President, wouldn't it be wrong to do so for Senate? - or even Mayor?
Who we vote for is a question best answered by issues. That is to say to ask who it is that will best represent the issues that concern us as Christians. Issues on life, marriage, and, in this day and age, religious expression in public.
I keep thinking about the fact that the gospel is not a political message. If it was, Jesus would have overturned the Roman Empire as so many expected him to do. But He did not. He took a different path. Why, because He knew that the gospel would not win the day in that fashion - he knew it required something different.
Christianity will not "succeed" on the basis of who gets into office, or what laws are passed. It will flourish more or less, but some of the most vibrant Christians I have ever met were in places where their very existence was denied (The Soviet Union, The PRC).
In the end, the best way to vote like a Christian is, simply, to be a good Christian, study the options, and vote for the person that your reason, your reading, your research and your heart tell you to vote for. To ask the government to reflect your faith is, in a way, to ask someone else to be a Christian for you.
Related Tags: Christian, voting, faith, practice
1 Tim 6:1-2 - Let all who are under the yoke as slaves regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine may not be spoken against. And let those who have believers as their masters not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but let them serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.In both of these instances Paul seems to be calling not for changing the order of the day, but for being a good Christian in that order. This says that we have an obligation to be a good citizen of our nation, which in the case of the US, means voting and voting intelligently. So, the first thing one can say about how to vote like a Christian is to make sure and do it.
Eph 5:24-25 - But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her;
Then there is the question of "Who?" Well, I think the fact that slaves are instructed to submit to non-believing masters and believing masters in the same fashion indicates that religous faith is not an essential question when it comes to deciding who to vote for. From a practical standpoint, there have been bad elected officials that were Christians (Think Jimmy Carter) and good elected officials that were not, or only nominally so (think Ronald Reagan).
We do not endorse a religion by voting for an adherent to that religion for any office. What's more, save for the national level, actually save for President, how much do we ever know about the religion of any candidate. Ask yourself this - if it is wrong to vote for a XXX for President, wouldn't it be wrong to do so for Senate? - or even Mayor?
Who we vote for is a question best answered by issues. That is to say to ask who it is that will best represent the issues that concern us as Christians. Issues on life, marriage, and, in this day and age, religious expression in public.
I keep thinking about the fact that the gospel is not a political message. If it was, Jesus would have overturned the Roman Empire as so many expected him to do. But He did not. He took a different path. Why, because He knew that the gospel would not win the day in that fashion - he knew it required something different.
Christianity will not "succeed" on the basis of who gets into office, or what laws are passed. It will flourish more or less, but some of the most vibrant Christians I have ever met were in places where their very existence was denied (The Soviet Union, The PRC).
In the end, the best way to vote like a Christian is, simply, to be a good Christian, study the options, and vote for the person that your reason, your reading, your research and your heart tell you to vote for. To ask the government to reflect your faith is, in a way, to ask someone else to be a Christian for you.
Related Tags: Christian, voting, faith, practice
