Cast Your Vote Based On Righteousness & Discernment
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.’ (Proverbs 14:34)
We are a month away from the midterm elections, where we will, as a nation, vote for all of the US House of Representatives (435 in total) and one-third of the US Senate (33 Senate seats out of 100 total). Particularly in Florida this November, we have twenty-eight US House seats up for grabs, and one US Senate seat to be determined in this upcoming election.
In Florida, there are also twenty of forty Florida State Senate seats up for election, and all one hundred twenty Florida State House seats, as well. In addition, there are a plethora of local city and county seats, judges, sheriffs and other offices up for election, as well as referendums, amendments, and provisions that are for us to choose. The other forty-nine states have similar choices for the people to make.
Who and what we vote for will determine the future steps our nation and state will take, and how we will corporately move toward. We are divided by ideologies of political parties; Republican versus Democrat, conservative versus liberal. There are also divisions inside those camps that are also among the choices we make when we vote.
There had been past efforts in the United States, incorrectly, to take God out of the voting equation. In 1954, the ‘Johnson Amendment’ stemmed churches from actively endorsing political candidates and positions. It is named after the then-Senator from Texas and future President Lyndon B. Johnson who submitted the proposal that was passed into law, as part of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. The provision prohibits non-profit charitable, religious, or sports organizations from political campaigning. It likely had good intentions at that time, to prevent such organizations from promoting un-American movements such as communism from covert endorsement through what should be non-political activities.
Unfortunately, the Johnson Amendment has been used to remove Christian opposition from the political arena in a widening creep of the law than originally intended. Depending on the leanings of the Congressional majority and the Presidential administration in office, the Johnson Amendment has been used to shut down Christian dissent of not just political but social issues that are in opposition to God’ Word. Though the current Presidential administration and Congress have been more toward a laxer interpretation, the Johnson Amendment has been used in the past to block churches, pastors, and Christian leaders from commenting on more liberal issues such as LGBTQ, transgenderism, and the attempted silencing of Christian evangelism in communities.
However, the law of man cannot supersede God’s commands, who under the Great Commission tells us to proclaim His Word throughout the world and our communities. The citizens of the United States do not have ‘freedom from religion’ but ‘freedom of religion’; one can, with free will, practice the religion of their own choosing, including the freedom to abstain from practicing any religion. This means that the Christian is free to proclaim God’s Righteousness in obedience to His Word, or one cannot be commanded or coerced into silence from evangelizing the Gospel of Christ (provided it is given in a proper and respectful method of communication).
It would be improper, in my opinion and regardless of the Johnson Amendment, to state which particular candidate or political leaning to vote for. Any personal opinion is subjective based on biases; however, it is not biased but factual that the Christian should vote in adherence to God’s precepts within His Word. Righteousness should be the first and foremost consideration in your vote, and it should also drive the decisions of our government leadership.
What I will state is your vote should reflect the truth of God’s Word; if a person or policy does not align with Biblical truth, falls outside the boundaries set by Righteous principles, the Believer should not vote for them. Any principles that fall outside of the principles of God are sinful and should not be tolerated or considered by those who proclaim Righteousness.
Obviously, there is no candidate that is perfect, either in platform or personal viewpoints. Should we thus abstain from voting at all? The answer is ‘of course not’. This is where we must petition the Holy Spirit to provide guidance and direction on who to vote on. There are indications candidates give, and descriptions provided for referendums, that can give us some indication, but we must use the Spirit to determine how to vote and what to support. God knows those candidates who will ‘flip’ upon election or those provisions, like the Johnson Amendment, that sound good initially but will cause harm when fully implemented.
Vote with knowledge, and with the discernment of the Holy Spirit. We should not abstain from voting, but instead vote for Godly principles, regardless of party affiliation or leanings. Let Righteousness provide the proper candidate to choose; and remember this truth; we elect who we corporately as a nation or state desire, and we elect who we corporately as a nation or state deserve. Our desire should be to honor our Lord Jesus and His Word, and we deserve what we receive in relationship to the degree we honor Him.
