The commercials come at us back to back. Vote for Bush. Vote for Kerry. Everybody wants your vote. Many of us are left thinking, “What should I do? I don’t like this about that party. I don’t like that about this party. I like that about this guy. I like this about that guy. Help. I’m confused.”
This is a time when we need to find firm, solid, biblical ground. We can’t be biblically illiterate at a time like this. At one point in the history of God’s people, the nation was in a decline. Here’s the reason. God is speaking through the prophet, Hosea. What happened then to them mirrors what is happening now to us.
My people are ruined because they don’t know what’s right or true.
Hosea 4:6a (Msg)
Ruin comes when a people don’t know what’s right or true. Now, how do we find out what’s right or true? We use the Bible. It’s the Word of God and has supreme authority in all matters of life. God says, “Ignore the Bible and My people are ruined. Learn what’s right and true, and My people are helped.” Here’s what God’s Word says about God’s word.
Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
Proverbs 30:5 (NIV)
Now, I realize that interpreting the Bible is challenging. I studied the Bible in seminary and I study hard every week to prepare to talk to my congregation. But I don’t pretend to have it all figured out. If I ever start acting like I do have it all figured out, then it’s time for the people in my church to start looking for a new church.
But there are some clear biblical principles that can show us where to stand in such controversial times. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said,
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
You’ve probably heard the quote, “If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything.”
There’s something to stand for. There’s something to work toward. That’s what I Corinthians 15:58 says.
Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
I Corinthians 15:58 (NASB)
Be steadfast, immovable…
There’s something to stand for.
… always abounding in the work of the Lord…
There’s something to work toward.
In the next few blogs, we’re going to tackling some controversial issues. See, when God’s word speaks to an issue, we can’t be silent. But we’re just going to be scratching the surface.
Look for more to come…
So, you’re going to have to do some additional research yourselves.
I will stand for and work toward…
1. … a culture of life.
Hot topics in this 2004 election are abortion and embryonic stem cell research issues. You probably know that 4,000 abortions a day are performed in the United States.
Now, I know the stories of many of my friends. Some of them have suffered the trauma of abortion. I say to my church, “You need to know right up front that you are welcome here. In Christ, there is acceptance and hope and love. Through Jesus, there is freedom from your past.” The question is: Where are you standing now? What are you working toward now?
Simply put, the Bible teaches that the unborn are persons. The Bible says that the growing life in the womb is the unique, creative work of God knitting together a being in His own image. The Psalmist prays,
You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13 (NIV)
Once, God spoke to a prophet and said that the prophet’s personhood began even before the womb.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.
Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)
The Bible speaks of babies in the womb as active personalities. They respond like people. In Genesis 25, twins are talked about.
The children struggled together within her…
Genesis 25:22a (ESV)
In Luke 1, John the Baptist in the womb is described.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb…
Luke 1:41 (NASB)
These unborn babies struggle and leap. The Bible indicates that the unborn are persons – even in the womb. And since they are persons, they ought to be treated with care and dignity as patients along with their mothers.
Did you know that by the 8th week of pregnancy, the heart of a baby has been beating for a month, that there are measurable brain waves, and that there is response to touch? Did you know by that 8th week that there’s thumb-sucking, grasping with the hands, and swimming with the arms in the amniotic fluid?
The Bible warns repeatedly against shedding innocent blood.
[They] shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters… and the land was polluted with blood.
Psalm 106:38 (NKJV)
The Bible calls again and again for the protection of the weakest and most vulnerable members of the community.
Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 82:4 (NIV)
Certainly a little life in the womb deserves our protection. It’s schizophrenic that in our culture one doctor can abort a perfectly normal 22 week fetus while at the same hospital, another doctor performs intra-uterine surgery to save the life of another 22 week fetus.
Again, I know that some reading this may have suffered the trauma of abortions. But don’t forget: everybody needs to be forgiven for something. That’s why Jesus came. He was once announced this way:
John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29
He takes away the sin of the world? What kinds of sins are in this world? That means He takes away the sins of selfishness, materialism, greed, anger, and on and on. And He also takes away the sin of abortion.
In fact, at our church, we offer a special service for those who have been impacted by the loss of a child either through abortion or miscarriage. If you’ve suffered the trauma of abortion, there’s grace for you in God and grace for you in any true church.
For more information, please go to http://christiananswers.net/life/home.html
I will stand for and work toward a culture of life.
2. … a culture for family.
One of the big issues in the 2004 election, of course, revolves around the definition of marriage. Are homosexual unions right in the sight of God?
You want the bottom line? The Bible says that marriage is one man and one woman coming together for life. Nothing else qualifies. Where does the Bible say that? Try the very first book of the Bible.
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Genesis 2:24 (ESV)
This is so important to the fabric of any society that it appears in the Bible three more
times: Matthew 19:5, Mark 10:7, and Ephesians 5:31.
Think with me. If God says something once, it’s vital. But what about something He repeats 4 times?
The reference to “one flesh” in these verses is a reference to sexuality. One man and one woman coming together in marriage is the only sexual relationship allowed by Jesus. Why is God so insistent on this? He knows that any kind of sex outside marriage is destructive to family foundations.
But, some might be thinking, “What does God think about committed, lifelong homosexual relationships?” We could go to many verses. But let’s just look in one place. Romans 1.
They exchanged the truth about God for a lie… For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Romans 1:25a, 26-27 (ESV)
God so loved the world. Don’t forget that. That includes the world of gay people. And if you are struggling with homosexual temptation, you also need to know that you are welcome here. But let’s not water down the truth on this issue. God says in Romans 1 that homosexuality is “dishonorable,” “contrary to nature,” “shameless,” and “erroneous.” It is not good for preserving the family, the basic building block for all of civilization.
Let me hurry to say that I believe there is hope for the person with a homosexual orientation. Jesus offers healing. He offers an alternative so that the power of sin is broken and the person is set free. How?
One helping organization is Exodus International. It’s a ministry that has helped thousands of men and women in the midst of their struggle with homosexuality.
If you are struggling with this issue, you need to know that many churches will welcome you and your struggle. Churches need to reach out in love to help people touched by homosexuality. Churches need to now that all people, including homosexuals, have been created in the image of God. All people should be treated with dignity. So, hateful and fearful harassment of people with homosexual orientations has got to stop. The church has to help both heterosexual and homosexual persons engage in the battle against all improper sexual thoughts and behaviors.
Having said that, though, it’s still clear from God’s word that marriage – one man and one woman together for life – is the foundational building block of society and needs to be defended.
Check out these websites for more information.
http://www.family.org/cforum/fosi/homosexuality/
http://exodus.to/default2.asp
I will stand for and work toward a culture for family.
3. … a culture of justice.
Should we be in Iraq or not? What does God say about war? If you say you are a Christ-follower, aren’t you supposed to “turn the other cheek?”
My son, Alan, graduated from Malone College, a Christian denominational school committed to pacifism. They teach that Jesus’ teaching that we should turn the other cheek and love our enemies means that it is always wrong to go to war.
But let me ask a few questions: Should the world have turned the other cheek to Hitler and tried to love him into surrender? When Osama Ben Laden ordered the attack on the World Trade Center, should the U.S. have responded by saying, “Why don’t you attack the Sears Tower, too?
The Bible teaches us to both love our enemies and yet, in certain situations, use force to restrain life-threatening wickedness. God gives to governments the right to use force to restrain and punish evil. You can find this in Romans 13.
Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God. The authorities do not frighten people who are doing right, but they frighten those who do wrong. But if you are doing something wrong, of course you should be afraid, for you will be punished. The authorities are established by God for that very purpose, to punish those who do wrong.
Romans 13:1, 3a, 4b (NLT)
Notice that the authorities are established by God. One version even says that government is a “minister of God” when it punishes evildoers. One purpose of government is to punish those who do wrong.
John Piper writes, “To let someone murder when it is in your power to stop them is completely contrary to any moral ethic that makes sense. If a Hitler is on the move and seeking to destroy entire ethnic groups, it would seem very clearly wrong not to oppose him with force. Yes, war itself is harmful and tragic. But pacifism would result in even more harm to the world. Why? It would give wicked people virtually free reign.”
Another scripture confirms the teaching of Romans 13.
… every authority [is] sent by [God] to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
I Peter 2:13-14 (NIV)
Once again, the right of governments to punish evil is affirmed.
Don’t fail to make a distinction between the church and the state. A Christ-follower can fight in a war not as an ambassador of the church, but as an ambassador of his country. The church is not to use violence. But the government at times may. So a Christ-follower fights not as an agent of the church, but as an agent of the government of his country. Both are ultimately under the authority of God, but each has a distinct role.
Last night at our church’s ministry to young adults, sevenoseven, a young man shared his story. He’s just returned from fighting for the US in Iraq. He said that the newspaper reports are slanted. And that the Iraqi people are, for the most part, glad for the freedom they now have as a result of US intervention. They know that Saddam was an evil tyrant who needed to be removed.
Is the Iraq conflict a just war? Each person must decide. But obviously our President and our Congress felt that it was. They had more information than any of us are privy to. They felt that it was in our national interest to fight against terrorism in Iraq.
At some point, we must trust our elected leaders to do their jobs. If we feel they are wrong, we ought to vote them out of office.
But let’s not kid ourselves. There is real evil in this world and God says that the government’s responsibility is to restrain it. For that reason, I’m glad we have a courageous leader in the White House.
For more information on this issue, check out the following website.
http://christiananswers.net/q-faith/fc-warperspectives.html
I will stand for and work toward a culture for justice.
4. … a culture of opportunity.
I’ve talked to people who are voting this year based on how the economy is currently treating them. I don’t think we should be one issue voters.
But let’s think about the economy in light of scripture.
A verse that at first glance doesn’t seem to have much to do with the ecomony is in Proverbs.
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
Proverbs 14:34 (ESV)
Look at that word “exalts.” In the Hebrew, it’s ruwm. It means “to lift up,” “to cause to grow up,” “to raise.” The tense of the verb points to an intensive or intentional action. So, if a nation is righteous, God will see to it that, with intensity, that nation will grow, be lifted up. That means more than just the economy, I know. But when the water level goes up, all the boats rise.
Another verse that’s famous in the Christian world is in II Chronicles.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
II Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)
We want healing in the economy? Let’s humble ourselves, turn from our wicked ways, and seek God’s face. And He will move to heal our land. I think that would include an economic healing as well as other kinds of healing.
Once the most powerful One in the universe is involved in our economic recovery, He can make things turn around overnight.
I will stand for and work toward a culture of opportunity.
For information on candidates, go to
http://www.ohioroundtable.org/
The election might not turn out the way you’d like. You might think that you wasted your vote. But look at the verse we started with today.
Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
I Corinthians 15:58 (NASB)
See, your “standing up” and your “working toward” “is not in vain” no matter what the outcome on Tuesday.
In the final analysis, it’s not ultimately about safe-guarding America – as much as we’d like to see that happen. It’s about honoring God, pleasing Him. Life is not about us, it’s about Him. And the God who sees in secret rewards in secret. He sees what you do in that voting booth. If we become biblically informed and we vote according to God’s values – if we “stand up” and “work toward” – it’s not in vain.
And let me remind you: No matter what, God wins. With God, the darkness will be defeated. The beginning, the middle and the end of the Bible reminds us of that fact. In Genesis 1, God made the light and said it was good. In John 1, we see God the Son coming into this world as the light of men. In Revelation, we see God Himself (no sun) lighting up His heaven. Since God is on the throne, it’s not sunset. The day is dawning for the kingdom of God.
