In just a few days, the citizens (citoyens, comrades) of the United States will decide (rubberstamp) a Dear Leader for the next four years, which selection will have enormous implications for, not only the country itself, but the world at large. Whoever is “elected” will shape American policy, both domestic and foreign, for years to come and will largely determine what happens within the next decade.
The choice is yours. Choose well. Or refuse to participate in the process at all.
Should Christians be involved in politics? This is the burning question which I have tried to answer recently in two blog posts, see here and here. Even though my answer has been a resounding “No!”, I think that I have explained my position badly and fallen short of the real reason why I believe as I do. This is an attempt to clear the air a little, although, it is certain that this will not be sufficient for the task. It is an ongoing “enlightenment” and it will continue until I pass through the gate to an eternal home where I can see clearly through the fog that I experience now.
I have described politics as far more than just government-oriented. Politics, the practice of manipulating and the use of others to benefit oneself at their expense, is widespread throughout society. Unfortunately, this description does not resonate with the general public at all and is completely ignored by virtually everyone. I am, indeed, a voice crying in the wilderness.
So, let’s abandon “politics” for a little while and contemplate what it means to be Christian. Of course, first and foremost, is the belief that Man (both male and female) is flawed and sinful, which renders us unable to meet, know, and understand God on our own. This defect was resolved forever by the appearance of Jesus the Christ into history, Who showed by His life, death, and resurrection from death into life, that it is entirely possible for flawed, sinful Man to become like God, under certain, clearly spelled-out rules:
- You shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, soul, and mind, AND,
- You shall love your neighbor in the same manner that you love yourself.
End of argument. Except that we are not willing to accept this as truth, preferring instead to substitute ritual, emotion, and irrationality as our own version of the truth, which we practice faithfully, certain that this will procure a ticket into the very presence of God Himself.
We are pretty good at “loving” the LORD, our God, with all our heart, soul, and mind, but what does it really mean to love our neighbor as we love ourselves? This is the existential question and it must be clearly understood if we are ever to understand what it means to love God. These two demands go hand in hand, they cannot be separated. It is impossible to love God fully and completely UNLESS we love our neighbor fully and completely.
“If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” –1 John 4:20, emphasis mine.
Well, all right, you might say, but WTF does this have to do with politics, government, and voting to influence the direction America (or any other nation) travels? After all, if Christians do not influence the government in a positive direction, the direction we deem to be true, right, and holy, then we are all “doomed” to live under a regime with which we do not agree, one in which we find ourselves in opposition against. Hell on earth, in other words, AND we MUST oppose that by voting for the “lesser of two evils”. Which, of course, does nothing to eliminate the evil, but actually exacerbates it since evil, to one extent of another, always wins.
The main problem with this is that it is easy to love government which solves all our problems with our neighbor by brute force and violence, but it is not so easy to love our neighbor through the application of self-sacrifice, good will, and service. Jesus did not say, “Love your neighbor by passing a law which he must obey, whether he wants to or not, and which you must pay for through taxation and regulation, even if you don’t like the extent to which you are taxed or regulated.” Instead, He said quite simply that we are to live with our neighbors, as if they (and their needs) were as important as our own, whether we like them or not.
Here is the dividing line, the distinction. Love for neighbors is voluntary. It comes out of the depths of our hearts. It does not care what it costs us personally. In our own personal relationship with our neighbors, we look out for their good. It does not matter what it costs, even if it costs everything we have, what we consider to be ours and which we are determined to hold onto at all costs, even if we have to pinch our noses as we enter the voting booth and pull the lever, signifying our belief in the “pot of message” which our favored candidate professes.
Love for neighbor cannot be achieved through a political process. It cannot be forced or violent. It must be voluntary. It is personally costly. It is self-sacrificial. We must die to ourselves so that our neighbor can live. This is the message of Christ and the Gospels and it is also that which we resist so strenuously that we have created a different, better way to “love” our neighbor: government, the application of law, and forceful action to back it up. As an example of this, it is quite easy to find a Christian church which steers a young, single mother to a government agency for “help” rather than taking her in and supporting her directly. After all, the government has plenty of money while we are struggling to pay the mortgage on our building, which is really owned by The Bank. Let’s be realistic about this.
Why? Is it not because we are afraid of our neighbor? Do we not fear what he might do to us? If this is the case, then it is better to do to him BEFORE he does to us, which principle is directly opposed to the teachings of Christ, Whom we profess to follow? Does this not create cognitive dissonance in our own minds, causing us to make excuses for all our behaviors, in spite of the irregularities and inconsistencies of our own philosophical and religious arguments? Do we create government, that is, legislation and the giving of “authority” to others, so that we can be secure and safe in our own environment? Do we accept government so that we do not have to be afraid? Yet, Jesus, in His capacity as God, asks us to completely trust Him and to accept no other as a safe haven in the storm. To be unafraid.
“And it makes me wonder.” — Led Zeppelin, “Stairway to Heaven”
In eternity, which I live in presently and will enter permanently within the next twenty years or so, the only question I have to answer is this: How do I love my neighbor? Do I love him from the depths of my heart, wishing, hoping, and working for his best even if that means I have to suffer loss, or do I try to control him through the office known as government, so that I can feel safe, even if that means that both he and I will suffer loss? Is my love for him real and lasting or is it just a face put on so that I can remain secure in my own world? Should I love my neighbor for his benefit or should I seek to control him so that I can benefit?
Politics!
Voting, whether you want to admit it or not, is just a mechanism of control. Nothing more. It is something which we use to indirectly affect how our neighbor will live or die if they refuse to behave the way we want them to. (If you click the link, notice the reference to Matthew 19:19) We can say that we love our neighbor, but if we advocate for a policy which degrades him, hobbles his ability to prosper, or restricts his behavior so that we can feel good about ourselves, then where is the consistency?
Where is the love, indeed?
There is only one reason for resorting to government as opposed to trusting God: we are afraid. We are fearful. We think about what MIGHT happen in the future and we take steps to make sure that doesn’t occur, because it might cause us harm. The actions we take are defensive in nature, yet God calls us to trust Him completely, which compels us to abandon any defensive measures and tactics, even those political in nature. Voting is such a defensive measure and, while it may serve as a feel-good, self-congratulatory action at the moment, it does nothing at all to solve the problem, which is spiritual in nature and which cannot be solved or corrected by pulling a lever in a voting booth.
Poor Roger's Almanac 
To live above with saints we love
Oh that will be glory
To live below with saints we know
Oh that’s another story
Amen!
Many pastors are telling their congregants that it’s a sin if they don’t vote. I’m telling people it’s a sin if they do vote!
Much more importantly, the Word of God informs us of the same.
This is simple, at least it should be: Does participating in the Constitutional Republic’s elections help perpetuate the biblically abominable Constitutional Republic or the Kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven, per Matthew 6:10 & 33?
Of course, constitutional elections promote the biblically abominable Constitutional Republic, born of the biblically seditious Constitution that commenced America’s suicidal trek to the precipice of moral depravity and destruction.
If that’s not sin, I don’t know what is:
““Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” (1 John 3:4)
The entire Constitutional Republic was erected on violations of God’s law!*
Furthermore, if you believe Christ in Matthew 7:26-67 and 12:25, the Constitutional Republic cannot be saved no matter how hard you vote or who you vote for.
With each and every election since the inception of the Constitutional Republic, America has only advanced further along on her suicidal trek to the precipice, regardless which species of Swamp Crocodile (disguised as Donkeys and elephants) has been elected.
The sooner the “dead” bury the “dead,” the sooner we, or our posterity, can begin building a righteous government and society upon the ruins of this wicked government of, by, and (allegedly) for the people.
For more, listen to Pastor Matthew Dyer’s interview with me entitled “Should Christians Vote in the Upcoming Election?” near the top of our Broadcast Library page at https://missiontoisrael.org/tapelist.html
See also the blog article “Constitutional Elections: Dining at the ‘Devil’s Table'” at https://www.constitutionmythbusters.org/constitutional…/
*See free online book “Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective,” in which every Article and Amendment is examined by the Bible, at https://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/…/blvc-index.html
What is a “righteous” government? Can a “righteous” society be built by enacting laws which are binding upon all people within that society? How and why would this be different than natural law, which is relevant to all men and societies, but is adamantly opposed to the rule of some men over all others?
Should we reduce the “law” to its very essence, “Thou shalt not steal.” Thou shalt not steal anything, even by majority vote.
The only righteous government to ever exist is government of, by, and for God expressly established upon His triune moral law (the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and civil judgments), governed by biblically qualified men of God.
In Romans 13:1-7, the Apostle Paul depicts such government as a “continual” (Verse 6) blessing to the righteous and a perpetual terror to the wicked (Verse 3 & 4). Romans 13 has nothing to do with secular humanist government. It’s instead our commission for dominion over government and society.*
This juxtaposed with government of, by, and (allegedly) for the people. All governments not of, by, and for God are governments of, by, and (allegedly) for the people – whether of, by, and for the majority, the few, or the one. Case in point: the biblically abominable Constitutional Republic born of the biblically seditious Constitution.**
Not that it couldn’t be improved upon, but, as one example from early 1600’s America:
“…Fundamental Agreement of the Colony of New Haven, Connecticut, 1639
Agreement; We all agree that the scriptures hold forth a perfect rule for the direction and government of all men in duties which they are to perform to God and to man, as well in families and commonwealth as in matters of the church; so likewise in all public officers which concern civil order, as choice of magistrates and officers, making and repealing laws, dividing allotments of inheritance, and all things of like nature, we will, all of us, be ordered by the rules which the scripture holds forth; and we agree that such persons may be entrusted with such matters of government as are described in Exodus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 1:13 with Deuteronomy 17:15 and 1 Corinthians 6:1, 6 & 7….
“Almost as impressive as New Haven’s agreement are the testimonies to it and other similar documents:
“Richard Mosier identified the Puritan Bible as not “only the holy restored word of God, but a constitutional document of the Protestant movement.”22 Note, an American constitution existed almost 150 years prior to the United States Constitution.
America was exalted in the eyes of the world because of her applied righteousness, embodied in Yahweh’s perfect law. Since 1788, when the United States of America, as a nation, stopped following Yahweh’s laws and began following the laws of WE THE PEOPLE, our legislation has ceased providing righteous instruction to others. Instead, the rest of the world now holds America in disdain. If America hopes to regain her favored status in the eyes of the world, she must return to her original Constitution….”***
*See free online book “The Romans 13 Template for Biblical Dominion: Ten Reasons Why Romans is Not About Secular Government” at https://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/Romans13/Romans13-contents.html
*See free online book “Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective,” in which every Article and Amendment is examined by the Bible, at https://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/BlvcOnline/blvc-index.html
***For more, see Chapter 3 of “Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.”
“They exercised the rights of sovereignty; they named their magistrates, concluded peace or declared war, made police regulations, and enacted laws as if their allegiance was due only to God. Nothing can be more curious and, at the same time more instructive, than the legislation of that period; it is there that the solution of the great social problem which the United States now presents to the world is to be found.” — from your quote by de Tocqueville, above.
“They…declared war,…”
In 1835, in America, the only people the colonists could have declared war against was the indigenous population known as Indians, who were attempting to defend themselves against an encroaching population of land-hungry invaders with superior power. So very Christian, in my opinion.
“…the great social problem which the United States now presents (present tense) to the world…”
What, specifically, is this “great social problem”? In the quote cited, de Tocqueville doesn’t say. Since you have offered it, please elaborate.
“…they borrow their provisions from the text of Holy Writ. “Whosoever shall worship any other God than the Lord,” says the preamble of the Code, “shall surely be put to death…
Yes, anyone who does not believe in exact fashion as the authoritative leaders do and who question what they say will be executed without mercy.
“Blasphemy, sorcery, adultery, and rape were punished with death…”
Ditto. See my above statement.
To be honest, I find this repugnant. It is, in my opinion, nothing more than a subjective interpretation of Scripture which seeks to enforce your own beliefs and dogma on everyone else, whether they like it or not. Far better, in my opinion, to speak the truth about blasphemy, sorcery, adultery, and rape, as to WHY they are harmful and injurious than to issue a blanket statement that, “If you are found guilty of any of these, you will be killed.”
Matthew 22: 35-40.
“Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. AND the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang ALL the Law and the Prophets.” — emphasis mine.
Now, I ask you, if loving your neighbor is equivalent to loving God and if loving your neighbor is the same as love for yourself, then how can you advocate that your neighbor MUST die because he does not worship God in the same way that you do? Who are you to determine what is the true worship of God? Who are you to decide that your neighbor’s worship is deficient? Furthermore, if loving your neighbor as you love yourself is the same as loving God, then you should be careful because your neighbor MIGHT decide that your worship of God is wrong, therefore you must be killed, and you would have no defense against it. After all, he might have a better case to argue in front of the judge or jury.
Loving your neighbor as you love yourself leaves room for error and repentance. Telling your neighbor that he must believe properly, as you say, does not.
You’re argument is not with me, but with God. What you find regunant is His triune law – His Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and civil judgments that reflect our God and Creator’s moral nature and are, thus, the foundational law of all of the Covenants.
“The law of Yahweh is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of Yahweh are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.” (Psalm 19:7-11)
“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” (Romans 3:31)
For more on how the Bible’s triune and integral moral law (the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments) apply and should be implemented as the law of the land, see free online book “Law & Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant” at https://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/law-kingdomFrame.html
Then “A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government.”