Why Christians Must Vote – Your Silence is Consent

christian-vote

I don’t approach any topic on this blog without prayer and seeking the Lord’s guidance first and foremost. There have been issues that I’ve wanted to tackle here, but have felt His hand not in it. That said, this is one of those rare occasions where the opposite is true.

It is profoundly disturbing that the trend of Christians deciding not to vote has been so pervasive. Christians have enjoyed the fruits of American prosperity as much or more than anyone else. We take for granted our every day rights and conveniences that so many other of our brothers and sisters across the world do not have. We freely worship, congregate, pray, and speak out without fear of reprisal or persecution. We live and work within the fabric of American society daily, and Christians have played a major role in America’s place of prominence in the world. And yet, when it comes to the most basic of our God-given rights – the right to choose and appoint our own leaders, many Christians want to disassociate themselves from that responsibility. This is a fundamental and ugly hypocrisy.

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The Amish people escape this hypocritical conundrum because they abdicate all American conveniences and societal trappings that we Christians enjoy and take for granted. They ask to only be left alone, and require nothing from our government and our people. It is morally consistent for the Amish to abstain from our elections. American Christians however, choose to live in modern society. We choose to drive vehicles on publicly funded roads, and to enroll our children in public schools. We complain about heavy taxation and government overreach as much as anyone else.

It is an attitude of spiritual arrogance, not moral piety that is behind this position. Otherwise, the Amish are a welcoming and hospitable people that would accept you with open arms should you decide to actually become morally consistent in your electoral abstinence.

And yet, when the time comes to vote, some of us assume a position of being too spiritually evolved and morally superior to engage in such earthly trivialities. It is an attitude of spiritual arrogance, not moral piety that is behind this position. Otherwise, the Amish are a welcoming and hospitable people that would accept you with open arms should you decide to actually become morally consistent in your electoral abstinence.

2016 has been one of the most contentious and volatile election seasons in modern history. We’ve heard and seen things from both candidates and their allies that have made us physically nauseous at times. We’re left with two choices for president that probably anyone would rate as “less than ideal”. And yet, we as Christians in America have a fundamental responsibility to let our voice be heard.

God has an interesting track record of using people for His design that the self-appointed ‘holiest’ of men would deem “less than ideal”. The second most prominent figure in all of the Bible, next to Christ Himself, is King David – whom the very throne in which Christ will sit is named after. God Himself called David “a man after His own heart”. And yet David himself chose to engage in lascivious behavior and even murder. David burned with lust for Bathsheba, had a salacious affair with her, and then had her husband murdered in order to have her all to himself. Can you imagine with skeletons like those in his closet, if David were running for president today, how many modern Christians would respond? Clearly we would be hearing from many Christian leaders about how voting for David would equate to approval of his horrible sins. And yet, David, because of his contrite heart and love of the Lord, is positioned above all other men in the eyes of God, and used for His purposes.

Cyrus the Great, the proud and powerful Persian ruler, was himself a pagan that in no way worshipped or revered the God of the Bible. And yet God Himself prophesied Cyrus by name – even calling him “anointed” – to be appointed ruler over His beloved Israelite people:

Thus saith the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and to loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and that the gates may not be shut: I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I am the LORD, who call thee by thy name, even the God of Israel. For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel Mine elect, I have called thee by thy name, I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known Me. – Isaiah 45:1-4

Again, one can only imagine how modern Christians would respond to a proud idol-worshipping pagan in American politics today. God is perfect in all of His mysterious ways, and obviously enjoys the poetic irony of often using very unsavory characters for His will.

One doesn’t have to be a man of God to be God’s man

Who are we to decide that our God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever; doesn’t continue in this manner? As someone close to me said in response to this Biblical precedent, “One doesn’t have to be a man of God to be God’s man”.

The consequences of this presidential election are profoundly important. If we want our children to enjoy some measure of American freedom and exceptionalism that has made our country great, then voting is critical. And of the two choices we are left with for president, only Donald Trump offers a platform that protects issues important to Christian voters. The most significant issue facing us at this very moment, is the makeup of our Supreme Court. Currently, there is one vacancy due to Christian Justice Antonin Scalia’s unfortunate passing. It is very possible in the coming months and years, more vacancies will arise on the bench, due to aging Justices vacating for one reason or another.

Only Donald Trump has promised to appoint justices to the Supreme Court that respect the sanctity of life, religious freedom, and Constitutional adherence. It is the Supreme Court that holds the ultimate say over the laws of our land, and whether or not they are Constitutional. It cannot be overstated how crucial it is for Christians to ensure that they do anything and everything within their power as free citizens to ensure that the Court is held by those with a traditionally conservative worldview. That decision is upon the Christian alone, whose failure to vote in this election makes it easier for those with positions abhorrent to Christians to assume power of the lives of all of us and our children.

Hillary Clinton has arrogantly not only flaunted the law at every turn, but believes herself to be above it, working tirelessly toward a society that embraces secularism and godlessness at every turn. To not do everything possible to prevent her endless quest for power, is to silently consent to it. Let’s review only a small portion of the controversy surrounding the Clintons and their inner circle:

In just a couple of days, America will decide for itself the direction, the tone, and the very spiritual character that it will assume for not only the next four years, but many years beyond that – and for subsequent generations.

Donald Trump is a sinner no more or less than all of us. The lewd things he has said in the past cannot be defended. But his election would stop the Clinton machine in its tracks from further eroding away the moral fabric of our society that allows us the freedom to live and worship as we please. A vote for Trump isn’t condoning his past. Who can say that God has not raised him up in our country’s time of need, as He has so many times before with David, Cyrus, and many others? We are here in modern America for a reason. And I believe God’s hand is still upon this country.

Our government is secular for good reason, and we are not electing a national pastor. The Bible describes and prophesies exactly what a God-ordained theocratic government looks like. And it is one that first requires the return of our Savior Jesus Christ, and His physical placement upon the throne of David in the millennial kingdom. We await that day with hope and our eyes affixed toward heaven – but until then, we are called to live among the world and to be in it.

Your voice is critically important for the defense of Christian and conservative principles to be upheld. By not voting against evil, you are consenting to it – not creating the moral insulation that you believe you are, when you still live in and enjoy the fruits of modern America. Choosing to abstain from this election is grossly hypocritical and self-righteous – but there’s always Amish country.


Further reading:

The AFA on why Christians should vote (John Piper’s Tragic Miscalculation)

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