Answering, "Voting for neither candidate of a major political party is
going to bring us closer to God."
Ramesh C. Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard
PART I:
Collegialism is the theory that church is independent from the state.
The state not interfering in church affairs is a great thing but the
church not involving itself in state affairs can be problematic. There
are those who believe that churches should not involve themselves in
political affairs of the state and do not encourage their congregation
members to make a difference in politics.
There are reasons for it and one of the main reasons has to do with U.S
legal code 501(c)(3) that gives churches tax-exempt status with
stipulations. One of the stipulations is that churches cannot directly
endorse or campaign for a candidate for any political office. Some
religious organizations feel so strong about being involved in political
affairs that govern the nation that they have been willing to forgo
their tax-exempt status. For that I applaud them!
There are other churches that do not want to get involved because of the
fear of losing their tax-exempt status. It is not my place to judge
them. However, even if they don’t directly get involved, they can preach
a message about the importance of having leaders who uphold moral
values. The preaching can be an exposition of scripture dealing with
what kind of leaders, the Bible values.
Churches can preach about controversial issues such as
abortion, gay marriage, etc by expositing Scripture. Sadly, many
churches back off. I hope your church will not back off. There can be a
tendency to think what if I turn certain people off and they leave the
church. There have been times that I have been apprehensive of writing
stuff but went out in faith and did it.
I am reminded of what prophets from the Old Testament,
what Jesus, and what the apostles did when they spoke. They did not
always speak regarding what people wanted to hear. On the contrary, they
spoke on issues that provoked and angered many but they knew they had to
live and proclaim the truth. Especially, in the Old Testament, out of
fear some prophets reluctantly spoke to their own congregations about
how they were living and how they ought to live because God wanted them
to be His faithful messenger. Jesus was a Master at that and reminded
His disciples that they would be persecuted but the Holy Spirit will
give them the words.
It is so exciting to know that as a leader of a flock
that the Lord has put under your shepherding, you can proclaim the Truth
of God's Word even on issues such as abortion, Gay marriage, etc and
leave the results in the Lord's Helping Hands. When members of
congregations are convicted in their hearts, they will know what the
right thing to do will be!
If you are a shepherd of a flock and are reading this, it
is not to say that you have done that what I am describing below. If you
have, I hope this article will help you rethink how your congregation
can be motivated to make a difference.
When
I read or hear about a priest, pastor, clergy, bishop, etc letting their
congregation know, “Voting for neither major party is going to bring us
closer to God”, it really distresses me because then there may be a
mentality among congregations who look up to their leaders that if
neither party is going to bring people closer to God, then why bother
even voting or registering to vote.
The
other message it may send is that if neither party is going to bring us
closer to God, we can vote for whoever will benefit us. If congregations
feel that way then they have actually given into egoism, the doctrine
that self-interest is the highest good. Yet, from Scripture we know that
self-interest should not be the highest good.
“Do
nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility
consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only
to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
(Philippians 2:3-4, NIV)
So
what role can church leaders indirectly take in politics without
endangering their tax-exempt status?
For
one thing if congregations do believe that neither major party is going to
bring us any closer to God, not to just leave it at that. No one can
bring us closer to God without each one having a personal relationship
with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Even church leaders cannot bring
any individual closer to God until each individual within the church
realizes that they are sinners in need of a Savior to redeem them and
they desire Jesus to be their Lord. The church can help them in
realizing that! Growth will slowly start there as people study the Word
of God and are in prayer in their solitary times with the Lord. Once people have a personal relationship with
Jesus, the church can supplement their growth and help them in their
walk with the Lord. It does start with an individual personal
relationship with the Lord and corporate community’s help to help in that
growth.
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on
things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your
minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your
life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life,
appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. “So then, just as
you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and
built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and
overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive
through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human
tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”
(Colossians 3:1-4, 2:6-8, NIV)
The statistics are staggering when I think about the 2000
presidential elections when 4 million Evangelical Christians did not vote. If they
were of the mentality that neither candidate was going to bring them
closer to God or make a difference in their lives, then they decided to stay
at home.
A
lot of times candidates are taken captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of
this world rather than on Christ. Because of that, I don’t think their
intent is to bring people closer to God. Even if a candidate desires to
bring the nation closer to God, there are other forces that try to
prevent that from happening.
Does
that mean, we throw in the towel and do not cast our vote on Nov 2,
2004?
No
one has a perfect record for us to be 100% confident to give them our
vote but that does not mean we should not vote for a candidate that
comes close to following biblical morals. As followers of Christ, we
have a duty to put those in office who come close to following biblical
morals! Otherwise we send a message of immoralism, which is the
rejection of morality.
No
candidate who is running for office is perfect except one candidate who
runs for the vote of humanity that they would accept Him into their
lives to govern them and be their Master. His name is Jesus Christ and
He is worth
V.O.T.I.N.G for without reservations.
When
it comes to human candidates, we will have reservations but that does
not mean we should not vote! We should seek the Lord in prayer and vote
for the candidate that comes closer to upholding biblical values.
There are many biblical values that can be threatened this election year
if the wrong candidate gets in. We can make sure that does not happen.
However, we should not adhere to egoism. If our vote is going to be
based on what candidate will help ‘me’ and better my life then upholding
biblical values won’t be a priority. In that case, people would vote for
who will better their lives personally.
Let
us not base our vote on what candidate can personally help us but rather
what candidate will better promote biblical morality and values
remembering neither candidate is perfect.
There are a lot of election issues and some of the issues are more
controversial than ever. Candidates have taken a stand on issues such as
abortion, gay marriage, gun control, racial reconciliation, universal
health care, education, Iraq War, War on Terror, economy, tax reform,
reaching the poor, etc.
Both
candidates espouse issues that we can be passionate about but only one
candidate can be voted into office. Lord has given us the right to vote
and has put us in a position to vote. We should vote for candidates who
uphold biblical morality and other issues will be taken care of is what
I strongly believe.
Of
all the issues that I can think of, only two issues go against biblical
morality. They are the issues of abortion and Gay Marriage.
As followers
of Christ, do we want to vote someone into office who wants to keep Roe v.s Wade alive that legalized abortion?
According to the website,
Women’s Issues, currently an estimated 1,365,000 million women
receive abortions in America annually. Approximately 40 million
abortions have been performed since 1973. Those are sad statistics in
the holocaust of the unborn. The unborn are being slaughtered and we can
do something about it. The person who was responsible for Roe v. Wade is
Jane Roe" (whose real name was Norma McCorvey) who challenged the
criminal abortion laws in Texas. Recently, she became a born-again
Christian who loves the Lord Jesus Christ and had a change of heart when
it comes to abortion. Norma McCorvey has changed her view on abortion
and now directs the Crossing Over Ministry, a nonprofit anti-abortion
organization. Last year she filed a motion with the U.S. District Court
in Dallas requesting that Roe v. Wade be reversed, and more recently a
federal judge agreed to hear her arguments.
Biblical scripture speaks about the unborn, “For you created my inmost being; you
knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am
fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that
full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the
secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your
eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in
your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16, NIV)
These verses show that life begins at conception and a fetus should not
be destroyed. Our Lord wants us to speak out for those who cannot speak
out for themselves.
“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward
slaughter.” (Proverbs 24:11, NIV)
We
have the power to vote into office the candidates that speak out against
abortion among other things we can do. Both presidential candidates
agree life begins at conception but only one candidate has been willing
to do something about it.
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