God’s sovereignty prevails over the course of men’s lives. His will will be done, regardless of man’s great plans. When countries ignore His moral laws and applaud those who flaunt them, He has said He will withdraw the hand that restrains sin and evil and leave us to our depraved selves. Is that a society we want for ourselves? Christians must lead as “salt and light” of the world, defending God’s moral law and conducting ourselves in civic affairs with love and humility.
Eph. 4:29 (NLT): “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”
Jeremiah 1:9 (ESV): “Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.’”
Exodus 4:12 (NASB): “Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.”
(SLIGHTLY REVISED MEDITATION PUBLISHED IN 2016 BUT APPLICABLE IN 2020)
TWO THOUGHTS ON THE 2016 U.S. political season, a brief analysis, and then a conclusion:
FIRST THOUGHT: The electorate is angry and divided. During the primaries, three candidates (Republicans Donald Trump & Ted Cruz; Democrat Bernie Sanders) led populist assaults against Washington.
Of the three, Trump alone survived, leading to a predictable result: Old Guard politicians and establishment figures from both parties joining forces against Trump, their common foe. Too soon to tell if the electorate, wearied from a year of politics, will yawn and back the establishment candidate or continue the assault and overturn the status quo.
(Now, we know. They bucked the establishment and elected the populist.)
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Second Thought: The real possibility that Almighty God is withdrawing his protective hand as our country’s arrogant leaders—and a growing number of private citizens—ignore His biblical instructions for our lives.
The apostle Paul wrote: “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.” (Romans 1:28 NASB)
He also wrote: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.” (Romans 1:18-19 NIV)
Old Testament prophets told rebellious Israel that, “It’s your sins that have cut you off from God” (Isaiah 59:2 NLT) and “Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD your God?” (Jeremiah 2:17 ESV)
King David, who lived under the covenant before the Cross, was so fearful of God’s rebuke for his sins, that he prayed: “Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:11 NIV)
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While God after the Cross will not remove the Holy Spirit from His believers, calling His gift “a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14), nevertheless, continued disobedience on our parts still erects a barrier between us and the God of mercy.
This grieves the Lord who has assured us it is our obedience and salvation that He wants to see: “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9 NIV)
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Analysis: Christian values, as many have seen, have given modern society so much to cherish — among them hospitals, civil liberties, abolition of slavery, modern science, elevation of women, and regard for human life — against the shameful record of non-believers who tout homosexual marriage, abortion-on-demand, civil unrest, antipathy toward individual rights and private property, and disrespect for all authority.
One difficulty with discussing civic matters from a biblical perspective is that the Bible is clear only that some matters pertain to God and His affairs, leaving a whole array of others to the state and to interpretation.
For example, we are to honor marriage as the union of one woman with a man, but we’re left without biblical guidance on where to set the corporate tax rate or whether legislators should be term-limited.
Unfortunately for U.S. society, our national government now is usurping the moral sphere, replacing God’s moral law with political policy and defending that usurpation on a false reading of the Bible!
Followers of Christ cannot let that go unchallenged.
However, we are still called to be “light and salt” to the world and to express our views with humility and love. While God made it clear He abhors homosexual conduct and abortion, Christians could differ on issues such as developing new energy sources or protecting our nation’s borders.
Christians must boldly defend Scripture, but where the trail is muddled, Christ’s followers must reach their positions through prayer and promote them lovingly, even when disagreeing with one another.
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CONCLUSION: IT IS IMPERATIVE that followers of Christ lead the way this election year in the U.S. by boldly defending God’s laws and by conducting civic affairs in a civil manner. That would preclude the ad hominem attacks so favored by the unfaithful.
We are called to support civil government (Rom. 13:1-7), but we must pray that whichever party’s candidates prevail in this ugly election, hearts will be softened to hear—and follow— the Lord’s voice.
POSTSCRIPT: This meditation written before the 2016 election seems equally pertinent as we approach the 2020 election. The electorate remains angry and deeply divided. Again, Trump — this time as President — and Bernie Sanders — launched campaigns against the status quo.
Once more, the Democrats muzzled Sanders’ voice, but Trump was not muzzled by Republicans in 2016 and, since then, has remade the party in his image.
As Christians, our jobs have remained constant: be a voice for Jesus Christ in the public square. The Bible even tells us how to do that:
“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:6 ESV)
PRAYER
Our Heavenly Father, we pray Your grace as our countrymen vote this November. We pray that our country’s leaders, and those who seek to replace them, will be open to Your voice and seek Your will, not just rhetorically when it’s politically useful, but in their personal lives and public acts. We also pray that You will lift up men and women who follow the Lord to seek political office at all levels of government so that our country, state, local communities, and school districts will be led by those who seek the Lord’s will. We pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen
LoveAndGrace 