Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Jesus for President?
I don’t
understand all of the interest Christians have in election politics.
It’s
remarkable really. If you go into most evangelical churches around election time,
you are instructed that it is imperative that you vote republican. Conversely,
in a progressive church you are told that voting democratic is virtually a life and death matter.
Jesus wouldn't
be a democrat or a republican. Churches on both of these extremes sometimes risk losing their nonprofit status with
their improper conduct.
In Romans
13:1, the bible tells us that “the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”
Most believers
are certain that this means we must take an active role in our democratic system. I’m
convinced that it’s just the opposite. Maybe the verse means exactly what
it says. God picks our leaders in His own time for His own designs and purposes. Don’t worry about it.
A verse
from Daniel (NIV) confirms this for me: “…the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know
that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes and sets over them the lowliest
of men” (4:17).
God reserves
the best leaders for Himself in His church. There are very few true men or women
of God who would choose to rule over a corrupt temporal government when they can help the Lord save souls instead by living
and preaching the gospel.
Expecting
the government to do the heavy lifting of changing hearts by changing laws is wrong.
This is not the way the gospel was meant to be spread; something we are all expected to do. Change hearts first and the leaders and laws will follow. Any
other plan would be taking the easy way out.
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